The Secret Life of Matthew Donovan
by DecimatedOddity
Summary: The story of Jeremy Gilbert and Matthew Donovan's hidden passion, because there just isn't enough fics with these two together.
1. Chapter 1

Getting boners over his naked best friend and a few of his other teammates in the showers was bad enough, but popping one over your girlfriend's little brother? That was drawing the line. At least Tyler and the other guys in the locker room showers would be _naked,_ with their asses out and their teenaged dicks flopping everywhere, bodies taut and muscled from playing football. But Jeremy would be _fully clothed_ …. doing something normal, something he always does.

Like sitting on the sofa in the Gilbert's living room, playing his video game, or huddled up at the kitchen table with textbooks and notepads, doing his homework. Matt would get a glance at him as he passed through with Elena, and he'd suddenly have to hold his hands in front of his pants, or squeeze his legs together—if he was lucky enough to be sitting down—while trying to hide a fierce blush.

Matt would sometimes go over with the excuse of visiting Elena, to simply wind up playing video games with Jeremy instead. He didn't understand why or how he had it so hard for the kid. But sometimes, when he was bored in class, he would gaze out the window and something out there would inadvertently remind him of Jeremy _._

The way the wind wisped through the trees was like Jeremy's lilting laughter. The sound of a bird chirping in the sky would remind Matt of the way Jeremy's voice sometimes cracked as puberty fought to lower it. The weeping willow trees were like Jeremy's hair falling into his eyes. Or a squirrel gnawing at an acorn would make him think of the way the young boy chewed on the end of whatever he was writing with when he was confused.

Oh _G_ _od_ and Jeremy had _bent over_ once. He'd dropped his pencil while doing his math homework and he had stooped over to retrieve it. When his pants had tightened around his adolescent body, Matt had to kindly excuse himself, and practically _dash_ off to rub one out. In his _girlfriend's bathroom!_ He'd thought about the things he wanted to do to a bent-over Jeremy. It was the quickest, quietest orgasm he'd ever had. He'd been able to pass it off as a long piss.

Matt was terrified. He didn't know what to _do._ Or who to talk to. Tyler? _Hell_ no. He'd probably lose the only real friend he had if he said something to him. His mom? No. She was too busy giving all her attention to her boyfriend Pete. Maybe the school's counselor? Everything between the student and her was supposed to confidential, right? _Naw_. She would probably try to give him a bunch of pamphlets or get him to talk about his _feelings._ Elena could tell something was bothering him, but of _course_ he couldn't talk to her.

In the end, his sister cornered him in the hallway between classes and weaseled it out of him, saying she knew something was wrong and that he should just go ahead and fess up. The word _gay_ had hung in the air between them like a ticking bomb, seconds away from shattering Matt's world, leaving him tense and frightened. But Vicki had defused the bomb when she'd finally pulled him into her arms and told him that she didn't care who he was attracted to. She still loved him and Elena would to.

"Elena?" he asked confused. He couldn't talk to her about it. She would break up with him!

"Yes, Elena. If your feelings aren't in the right place, you can't string her on." Is that what he was doing? _No._ At least he didn't _think_ so. He enjoyed spending time with Elena.

"I'm not breaking up with Elena," Matt whispered, peering around to ensure that no one was listening in. "I like her."

"Yeah? But _how_ do you like her, Matty?"

How? How. _How?_ How _did_ he like her? Matt was floored to find that he couldn't immediately answer. They had only started dating because they'd known each other their whole lives. They had sometimes shared cribs as babies and grown up together. And their _parents_ had grown up together. He and Elena felt obligated to at least give things a try. And neither of them regretted it.

Things were good between them. Matt was a star football player, second to only Tyler, and Elena was his pretty cheerleader. They walked the halls hand in hand and shared sweet kisses by her locker or when he dropped her off at home. He had a job at The Grill and could afford to take her out sometimes. They had movie dates together; laughed at comedies and snuggled up at romances. They went on nighttime drives, the stars twinkling down on them as they lost track of time together. They went to county fairs where Matt won her stuffed animals, most of them she still had.

But as Matt stood before his sister looking back on it, sure they had fun and enjoyed spending time with each other, but everything they'd done had been platonic. He had never felt her up or anything. He'd never felt the _urge_ to and she'd never pressured it out of him. He and Elena could simply be really close friends. Is that what a relationship was supposed to be like? Matt didn't know. He didn't have a comparison.

But when he replaced the image of Elena in his memories with Jeremy, there was much more than a subtle change. Jeremy would win his _own_ stuffed animals, and he wouldn't cheer from the sidelines as Matt dashed off with the football. Jeremy would probably suit up and tackle someone on the field. They wouldn't snuggle up at a romantic movie. They would probably see an action movie or horror, something more Matt's speed. He couldn't fight the smile his cheeks created from the prospect of it all, because when he thought of kissing _Jeremy_ instead of Elena, he could see his hands roaming across the young boy's body, stopping in between his legs to squeeze the—

Fortunately, the bell rang, graciously sparing him his indecent thoughts and the many students slowly began to file into the classrooms. Perfect timing as Matt could feel something happening inside his underwear. "I need to get to class," he blushed, turning away from Vicki and holding a hand in front of his crotch.

"Matty," she stopped him, gently grabbing his arm. "Honestly this was a huge shock to me. From the outside looking in, it seems like you really like Elena. You two have the perfect relationship that everyone wants. But if you feel like you're just going through the motions, you have to break it off. Unlike me, you're actually a good person, so I know you'll do the right thing."

Matt sighed despondently at those words. He hated that his sister felt that way about herself. She wasn't a bad person. She was just a little lost and she never considered how her rash decisions affected her life. "Don't say that, Vicki. You just—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" She smiled and waved Matt's words away. "Save it for another time." And she turned, going in what Matt knew was the complete opposite direction of her next class.

"Vicki, your class is the other way," he pointed out.

"And that's why you're a better person than me, little bro. Because who said I was going to class?" Then she grinned and ambled away, leaving Matt to stare disapprovingly at her retreating form.

—

That night Matt lay naked in bed, his phone in his hands, lube on his nightstand, and his bedroom door locked. He'd bravely decided that tonight would be the night he settled things. He took several calming breaths as he pulled up one of his favorite sites. Pictures of naked women in provocative positions popped up, some of them alone, some of them with a man, some of them with _multiple_ men. Up until he'd started questioning himself, the only thing that mattered to Matt was that he got off. He would search around on the website until he found a video that he liked, and he would come to a man fucking a woman. That made him straight, right?

But Matt resolved to be more observant that night. He was more attentive about which videos he liked and why he liked them. Whenever he passed one up, deeming it unappealing, he would ask himself _why_. It didn't take long to find a reoccurring pattern. The videos Matt preferred all had the same thing in common, a fit and strong and attractive man, with a boyish-bodied woman as his counterpart, her breast so small they really couldn't even be considered breast. If the flick didn't feature at least one of these two things, Matt would lose interest and move on.

So that night, with trembling fingers, he tapped the url and added _/gay_ to the end of it. He didn't want to do it, but he _had_ to know. He _had_ to test it. The videos promptly changed. A part of Matt was desperately hoping for a random malfunction in his cellular network, but despite his feeble hopes, pictures of naked men quickly replaced the naked women and Matt was frightened to find his limp dick steadily growing in his between his legs. Oh shit...With tight lips and a pounding heart, he tapped on the first video available to him. He didn't have the courage to actually scroll through the website.

Two young men popped up before him in a modern kitchen, kissing softly, cradling each other's head. One man wore a tight v-neck shirt, outlining his well defined torso. He looked like he was very friendly with his local gym. Muscles wrapped around his arms like stripes on a candy cane. He was a tall man with a dark buzz cut, strong, proportionate facial features and a skin tone that suggest an African decent.

The other man was shorter, still average height for a man, but shorter than his counterpart. He was already shirtless, a small line of hair traveling down his flat stomach into the cargo shorts he wore. Unlike his counterpart, he was slim, almost scrawny. His pale skin was practically stretched over his bones. Yet there were still visible muscles in his arms and across his stomach.

Matt watched intently, unable to tear his eyes away as things slowly progressed. The two men undressed each other, kissing, touching, and groping until the black man sat the shorter guy's bare ass on the counter and squatted before him, wrapping his large lips around the slimmer man's impressive cock and bobbing on it. The burly man took the long pale dick like the professional he was. It went so far into his mouth, Matt could see the tip of it of pressing into the guy's throat. The dick slid into his mouth so perfectly. It was like those plump lips were made for sucking cock.

The man closed his eyes and slurped the penis in a blatantly lewd fashion. He licked at, moaning and smiling as if it was a hot day and the cock was his favorite popsicle. Matt didn't notice how hard his heart was pounding, how deeply he was breathing. He didn't notice how painful his throbbing cock was, how much this was turning him on until the smaller man climbed down from the counter and bent the larger guy over it instead. He positioned himself behind him and kicked the black man's legs further apart, making the plump cheeks open up. Then he pushed his thick, raw dick inside the man, the long appendage disappearing in between a strong mound of chocolate cheeks.

Matt's eyes almost popped out of his head at the sight of it. They were fucking! He was watching two men fuck! And the big guy was on the bottom! The larger guy was usually the pitcher, right? Matt's hands moved uncommanded, as if with a mind of their own; a puppeteer was manipulating them. He never tore his eyes away from his phone, and before he even really knew what was happening, there was lube in his hand and he was stroking his hard dick, biting his lower lip and pushing up into his slick fist while watching a long, thick prick disappear in between two beautifully perfect ass cheeks over and over again.

Matt's toes curled in ecstasy, precum dribbling from his slit and mingling with the lube. The black man had begun to fist the monster sized dick between his legs while he moaned deep guttural moans—something very similar to the sounds escaping Matt—and the other man quickened his pace. Matt didn't understand how a dick up the man's _ass_ of all places would make him respond that way. A vague thought crossed Matt's mind that maybe he would have to try it sometime… After that thought, Matt unintentionally pictured _himself_ naked and bent over that kitchen counter instead. It was _him_ in the video, tugging his cock with his bare ass on display… and Jeremy stood behind him, stroking into his sweet hole and—

And Matt was coming. Hard. Matt's body reflexively convulsed, his torso curling upwards, as if he were trapped in the last crunch of a strenuous workout, straining to complete it but he simply couldn't make it up the rest of the way. His eyes clenched shut as he pumped thick heavy white ropes out himself. They burst out onto his bare stomach and Matt locked his jaw to prevent himself from screaming. The phone tumbled off the side of the bed, clattering to the floor forgotten, as the image in Matt's mind took over instead.

Jeremy had a tight grip on Matt's waist as he fucked into the older boy from behind. His thrusts were smooth and gentle, yet swift and deep, pushing all the way into Matt until he could go no further, then sharply pulling back out to do it again.

"Take this dick, Matt," the imaginary Jeremy panted, fucking into him. "Is this what you want? Huh? You want your girlfriend's little brother to fuck you? You want this dick inside of you?" The imaginary Jeremy ran a gentle palm down Matt's spine, lasciviously caressing it as he fucked him.

"Yesss…" The word tumbled out of Matt's mouth in response to the imaginary question while he pumped his—how could he _still_ be coming! The thick fluid continued to spill out of him and Matt squirmed in his bed, trapped underneath the hardest orgasm he'd ever experienced. The semen collected in and around his navel like wet cement without a mold.

Matt's imagination ran wild with how it would feel to be manhandled, stretched open, filled up, how it would feel to have Jeremy's dick grazing inside of him. The blonde teen twitched and convulsed until finally, _finally_ he could feel himself coming down. After a few more sporadic tugs, he relaxed in the bed exhausted, falling limp like an abruptly abandoned rag doll, and releasing the death grip on his softening cock. He peered down at the baseball sized puddle of cum on his stomach and smiled through his trembling breaths. That was _definitely_ the first time he'd ever came that much. And if the _thought_ of Jeremy fucking him caused this reaction, Matt wasn't sure what would happen if the kid actually _did_ it. But there was one thing Matt _was_ sure of.

That night, as he fumbled out of bed and quietly crept to the shower, holding his hands to his lower stomach in a relatively successful attempt to contain the massive amount of sexual juice, Matthew Donovan resolutely embraced the fact that he... was _indubitably_ … gay. Period.

Still, over the next few days, he kept his feet firmly planted in the closet and Vicki loyally kept her lips sealed. Matt constantly considered his sister's suggestion, but in the end, he would always decide that he liked his life just the way it was, thank you very much, and he wasn't too keen on changing it. He was one of the star ball players on the school's team and therefore a relatively popular guy. Ending a relationship with someone as pretty as Elena would cause too much suspicion. Besides, she was the perfect buffer to fend off unwanted attention from the many girls that would pounce on Matt's popularity if he was single.

So the school year went on and he continued hiding his erections from his best friend and his teammates in the locker room. He won Elena more stuffed animals and she gave him more sweet kisses as a reward. He won the school more football games and she continued to cheer him on from the sidelines. He continued to walk her to her classes and he continued to clandestinely watch her little brother from afar, the boy he couldn't have.

But apparently, Fate did not intend for Matt Donovan and Elena Gilbert to remain Mystic Falls' Finest. No. She had different plans for the both of them. As spring dragged to a close, she decided that if Matt didn't want change his life… Fine. She would change it for him. Drastically.


	2. Chapter 2

It happened right before the Spring Fling. They were at another one of the bonfires that were always happening, though no one ever seemed to know who coordinated them, when Elena pulled Matt away from Tyler for Fate to put the first of two irrevocable touches on Matt's life.

Elena was quiet at first, looking down and fiddling with the little red solo cup in her hands. Matt could tell something was wrong. This was serious. She had pulled him away from the party. Matt had a clenching feeling in his gut.

"Elena…?"

At the sound of her name in Matt's timid voice, as if it were some kind of trigger, she looked up with determination set in her eyes. "I think we should stop seeing each other, Matt."

His stomach plummeted. Wait what? How could—had he… _what?_ "What d—what do you mean?" he stammered. Was she serious? "Like we need to take some time apart? Or—"

"No. Like, _break up,_ " she emphasized.

Matt stared blankly at her…. It was as if someone had abruptly stuck a stick in his gears and he was longer functioning properly. _What?_ Was this happening? Where had it come from? Things were fine between them, right? They were perfect. Everyone wanted what they had. The only word that his mouth could form was—

" _Why?_ "

"I don't know…" She looked back down at her cup despondently. "This relationship… There's something missing… It just feels… shallow."

Matt's blanched, sweat forming on his forehead despite the relatively cool spring evening. Matt _knew_ what was missing, his attraction to her, but how could _she_ know that? He'd been playing it off well, hadn't he? He held her hand and hugged her, and kissed her, and smiled at her. He referred to her with sweet pet names. Wasn't that enough? Wasn't that plausible? Was he being obvious about it? Of _course_ not. No one else had suspected a _thing_. How could she just… _sense_ that something was offput?

"It's like we're a beautiful pond with flowers and lily pads," she continued, talking to her cup. "Everyone looks at us and they think we're perfect. But no one ever dives in. No one ever knows how shallow the pond really is. They don't know that there's nothing beneath us. There's no _depth_ to us." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "We're just a beautiful scene for them to look at. I feel like that's all I am for you. I'm just a beautiful thing that you let people admire."

No. Just… _no._ How could she do this? It wasn't happening. She couldn't break up with him. He needed her….

"No…" he vehemently denied. "Elena, that's not what you are to me…" But that's _exactly_ what she was, a beautiful thing he let people look at, a mirror he used to reflect a false sexuality. "What is this? Is this about sex? I didn't want to pressure you into anything out of respect," he lied, reaching out desperately for anything that would rein her in. "Because if that what this is, I'll take you off in the woods right now, and we can go at against a tree." And he would _do_ it. He would give Elena his virginity if that's what it took. She could have it. It wouldn't be that bad. Right? Even though he wasn't into it, vaginal sex would still be... _pleasurable_ ; he would still be able to get off from it. Right? Matt with shove his dick so far inside of her it would leave a permanent imprint.

Matt would do whatever it took. He _needed_ Elena. He _needed_ their relationship. It was his foundation. He was certain that if Elena left him, his walls would tumble down and everyone would find out about him. He had to do something. Everyone was partying and laughing behind them while all of _everything_ he'd spent the entire school year building rapidly crumbled in this wrecking ball moment.

" _No_ ," she frowned indignantly. "I don't want to have sex against a _tree_ somewhere..."

"Then _where?_ We can go back—"

"No, Matt! This isn't about sex! It's about _us_ and what we're not! I want a real relationship. I don't want whatever _this_ is." She gestured between herself and him, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not enough for me anymore."

"Then what do you want? Tell me so I can give it to you." Matt reached out for her but she slapped his arms away.

"I don't know what I want! I just know that this isn't it!"

They were silent for a moment while Elena's tears feel and Matt let those contradictory words sink in. " _What?_ Elena, that doesn't make any _sense!_ How can you tell me I'm not giving you what you want, when you don't even know what 'what you want' _is?_ "

"I don't know!"

"You know… for someone who's decided that we should end a good thing… you sure keep saying 'I don't know' a lot."

Elena sighed in exasperation. "We shouldn't have to write out where we want our relationship to go Matt. It should just... _go_ there. I feel like we have... _parameters,_ there's _boundaries._ It's almost like we've reached a certain limit and we just stopped. And I've felt this way for a while now. I feel like we're just dancing around in this little box where the music never changes. And we can't get out because there's nowhere else for us to go."

As Matt stood there, desperately searching his brain for something, _anything_ he could use to change her mind, his heart shattered when he realized that he couldn't. Because she had already made it up. He had lost this argument before it had even begun. Nothing he could say would be enough. So without another impotent word, Matt turned and walked away.

"Matt, wait..." She called out for him but he ignored her. What the hell else was there for it? He went off in search of his best friend. The two of them would go get wasted and he could figure something out.

—

Elena wouldn't answer her phone the next morning. It went straight to voicemail. Had she blacklisted him that fast? No. Elena wasn't that cold. Was she? Matt had called a few times and then decided maybe he should give her some space, let her calm down and collect her thoughts, to find out what she wanted.

Or maybe this was a good thing. Matt platonically liked her, but in the end, she was right. That wasn't enough for the kind of relationship she wanted. She didn't deserve to be treated the way he treated her. She didn't deserve to be used like that. Maybe their separation needed to happen. That resolve had lasted for an hour, before the thought of going to school the following day without her on his arm made him call again.

He went straight to voicemail every time.

That evening he found out that her parents had died. What was worse, he found out through a bit of overheard gossip at The Grill while leaving his shift. He'd felt terrible because all day he'd believed that she simply wasn't answering _his_ calls. She hadn't blacklisted him. She'd _turned her phone off_ to get people to stop bothering her. Bonnie and Caroline probably had her off somewhere trying to lift her spirits.

But Jeremy? Jeremy had lost his parents too. And who did he have? The kid was a loner. He spent most of his free time cooped up in the house drawing or playing video games. As Matt thought about it while driving home, he discovered that his concern for the younger boy was much greater than anything he held for Elena when he subconsciously switched his course of direction to the Gilbert home, as if that had been his destination all along.

When he pulled up, he found the boy dejectedly rocking himself on their porch swing, blankly staring off into distance. He didn't even seem to notice or care about Matt's sl approaching form.

"Hey, Jer," he said fondly, walking up to the stairs. Matt didn't know what to do, but he felt a need to comfort him. "How you feeling?"

Without lifting his head, Jeremy's eyes snapped up to Matt's sharply and he abruptly stopped pushing himself on the swing. It was as if Matt's question had been a 'pause' button. "My parents just died. How do you _think_ I'm feeling?" He snapped rather bluntly, in a way that made his sweet voice sound cold. Matt wanted to do something to change that. He wanted to bring back Jeremy's light, uncaring demeanor.

Matt raised his hand innocently. "You're right," he smiled. "That was a stupid question."

Jeremy glared at him for a moment more, then, as if he'd made some mental decision, he shifted his eyes away and continued to rock himself, like someone had pressed 'play'.

"Elana's not here," Jeremy said blandly. "Caroline and Bonnie swooped her away."

"That's okay. I kinda figured as much." Matt let his hands fall limp at his sides. "I came to see you anyway," he admitted Jeremy. And himself.

The confused look Matt received was worth it. _Any_ expression was better than the despondence the boy had worn before.

"Yeah," Matt assured him. "Can I sit down?" Jeremy hesitated for a second, as if maybe he thought Matt were up to something. But then he shrugged and nodded. "So. Why're you sitting here all alone?" Matt settled in next to him.

Jeremy didn't answer at first. There were so many emotions on his face, sadness, fear, confusion, anger…

"Honestly, I don't wanna go anywhere," he finally said. "I don't want to be around a bunch of people who don't even really know me saying how sorry they are. Elena didn't want to leave me, but I told her to go. She's sleeping over at Caroline's because Jenna won't be here until sometime tomorrow." Jeremy abruptly switched gears. With the briefest pause between sentences, he peered at Matt giving him the same curious expression from before. "You really came over here to see me?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Matt asked, a jovial lilt to his tone. He slapped a palm across his chest as if he'd taken a blow to the heart. "I'm hurt. I thought we were closer than that."

Jeremy smiled and shrugged. "You've just… never been here before if Elena wasn't."

Matt grinned, happy to finally get the younger boy to smile. That smile was the reason for Matt's existence.

"Well there's a first time for everything." And Matt clapped a hand on his shoulder, simply to have a reason to touch him. "Let's go inside and play some Halo to take your mind off it."

Jeremy shrugged. "Yeah. Okay." He stood casually and made his way inside like it wasn't really a big deal. But Matt could see the small smile on the boy's face and knew that he was happy someone actually cared enough to comfort him.

The boys played Halo for hours. And Halo turned into Call of Duty and that into Need for Speed, and that into Tekken. Because each time Matt mentioned how late it was getting, that he should probably head home, Jeremy would insist they play another game. The process continued until finally, Matt's suspicion got the best of him.

"You know, Jeremy," he said curiously, laying the controller down sometime around 1am. "Call me crazy, but I think you don't want me to leave."

Jeremy fought a blush and dropped his head. He didn't even attempt denial. "Am I that transparent?"

Matt shrugged, smiling a the boy's adorable blush. "Ehh… I kinda figured you out around midnight."

Jeremy sighed. "I just... There's so many memories in this house." He laid his controller down as well, his shoulders slumping. "I don't want to spend the night here alone. But I didn't want to be selfish and stop Elena from going out either." He sat there timidly, his fingers knotted together, frowning slightly. He refused to look at Matt as if he were readying himself for the gentle let down.

It was a Sunday night, and Matt had a shift at The Grill after school tomorrow. But how could he say no to the boy when he sat there looking so sad?

"I guess I can stay," Matt smiled.

"Really? It's not too much to ask?" Jeremy finally looked at him. The relief on his face, the way his tense shoulders relaxed was enough to warm Matt's heart.

"It's no problem. Let me just call my mom and tell her where I am."

"Thanks, dude! You're the best." The smile he gave Matt made his already warm heart melt. Matt discovered then, that he would probably do anything for Jeremy if that radiant smile would be his reward. "I'll go grab you some blankets." And he rushed off up the stairs.

Matt dug his phone from his pocket and after four rings, Matt had almost hung up, but his mother's winded voice speaking through the receiver stopped him.

"Matty?"

"Hey, Mom. I was just calling to tell you I'm staying over at the Gilbert's tonight." She was quiet for a second. Matt thought he could hear several people talking… and maybe music in her background.

"O... _kay?_ " she said, sounding genuinely confused. "I love you Matty, but why are interrupting my sleep for this?"

Sleep? From the sound of things, she probably wasn't even at _home._ Wherever she was, she wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. Why would she lie? Though Matt didn't confront her about it, he still couldn't fight the bitterness that entered his tone because of it. "I just figured because it's a _school night._ And I don't know, I thought maybe you might be just a _little_ concerned when I _didn't come home_ for the night." Why was he even surprised. "But you know what? I'm sorry I bothered you."

"Matty—" He could hear that she knew she'd upset him. But if she didn't care, why should he? He swiped the end button.

"What'd she say?" Jeremy asked, coming back, blankets in hand.

"She says everything's cool," he paraphrased, pocketing his phone. Of _course_ she didn't care. When did she ever?

"Awesome." And then Jeremy was smiling at him…. that glorious smile. It was a natural sweetener for Matt's sour mood. "You wanna finish up Tekken?"

"Why the hell not?" Matt smiled and Jeremy settled back in on the sofa.

—

Matt's eyes fluttered open with the sunlight shining through the curtains. He didn't remember falling asleep, but clearly he must've done so at some point. The last thing he recalled, they'd been laughing while Jeremy slaughtered him at Tekken somewhere around 3am.

A deep yawn overtook Matt and he stretched, finding himself shoeless, sockless, and tangled in a sheet. He looked down to discover that, sure enough, his shoes had been removed, with his feet pulled up on the couch, and a blanket tossed over him. He peered over the edge of the couch and found his sneakers sitting neatly side by side, a sock tucked snuggly into each of them. Matt could only smile from the sentiment of it all.

It was then that the pleasant aroma of bacon wafted over the back of the couch. With another quaking yawn, Matt let the lovely, greasy smell lift him from the sofa. Leaving the sheet on the couch, he followed his nose like Toucan Sam and… there was Jeremy, standing at the stove in a t-shirt and boxer shorts, his back to Matt, low volume music playing from a small speaker he had on the table.

From the way he softly and cheerfully sang along with the music as he cooked, bobbing his head along with the beat, you wouldn't be able to tell that the boy's parents had just died. Matt smiled, thinking that maybe he has something to do with that. This is the boy he had wanted to see on the porch swing yesterday evening.

Matt couldn't stop his eyes from raking over the boy's lean figure as he flipped the bacon. The way his shoulders and arms were in the the process of properly filling out, the way that loose t was kind of _draped_ over him. And his ass in those boxer shorts… They clung to him, leaving little to the imagination. Matt wanted to slowly pull them off and lay soft kisses on those cheeks. Even the kid's bedhead was doing something to Little Donovan. It made him swiftly sit down at the table, pulling his chair in to hide it.

Jeremy turned at the sound. "Morning, dude," he smiled cracking and egg now. That smile went straight to Matt's already stiffening dick, making him shuffle a little uncomfortably in his seat.

"Morning." Matt smiled warmly in return. "Not that I'm unappreciative or anything," he continued, grabbing one of the pancakes from the small stack in front of him and tearing into it, "but you didn't have to cook breakfast." He bit into the lump of bread, finding that it was actually pretty tasty, even without syrup.

"Well you didn't _have_ to stay. But you did. And I wanted to thank you for that." He smiled at Matt again as the raw eggs sizzled, hitting the hot skillet. "How do you like your eggs?"

Matt cocked his head and raised an astonished eyebrow. Eggs cooked to order? What was this, a Bed and Breakfast?

"Over medium," he answered, honestly a little impressed.

"Well you're getting them scrambled because that's the only thing I know how to do."

The laugh that escaped Matt was booming. He stared at the back the boy's messy head incredulously. "Then why would you even _ask?_ "

"Eh…" Jeremy grinned and shrugged, pushing the eggs around with a spatula. "Just seemed like the courteous thing to do."

"You're a piece of shit," Matt joked, making Jeremy shrug again.

"Not the first time I've heard that," Jeremy chuckled. "Won't be the last."

"What time is it?" Matt asked, thinking he could maybe still make it to school.

"A little after eleven, last I checked."

Or maybe not… They'd stayed up until three in the morning. Without anything to wake him up, of _course_ he had slept til noon. "Guess I'm not going to school today. Oh well." He chuckled and took another bite of the pancake.

"I wasn't going anyway," Jeremy said despondently, pushing the cooked eggs onto a plate. "I'm not ready to face anyone yet."

Sensing where the conversation was headed, Matt randomly grasped at anything to avoid it.

"Do you always cook half naked?" Matt grinned, gesturing to Jeremy's semi dressed form. _Bad_ choice… Because it only made Matt look at Jeremy's body again and that wasn't helping his current predicament. It only made him think about touching Jeremy, touching his ass in those boxer shorts. The soft chuckle Jeremy let out in response to the question didn't help either.

"Naw. I just tend to walk around the house however I went to sleep the night before." He placed the eggs and bacon on the table next to the pancakes, his face growing placid. He gathered up two plates and some silverware. "My mom would always make me put pants on."

Well _that_ backfired. Random Grasp: Take Two

"Is that Hooba?" Matt asked, listening to the faint music coming from the little speaker as Jeremy settled in across from him.

"Yeah… I like to listen to kind of mellow stuff in the mornings. Relaxing, you know? Save Linkin Park and Nirvana for the evenings. I can change it if you want…"

"Naw, I like this song."

"You listen to Hoobastank?" Jeremy asked, with a bit of surprise in his tone. He arranged a generous amount of food on his plate, and Matt took that as his cue to do the same.

"Nope," Matt admitted, watching in amusement as Jeremy smothered his pancakes in syrup then drizzled a bit of it across everything else as well. "I just like the one song."

"I'm not surprised. This is usually the only song by them that people know. I kinda like them though."

Matt smiled. "I'll have to check them out then. You seem like a guy who has a pretty good taste in music."

"You're damn right I do," Jeremy chuckled. And the two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence as they ate.

Several times throughout the meal, as fork clanked against plates, and the songs changed, always some mellow punk song, Matt found himself staring at Jeremy. He gazed at the way the boy's lip moved when he chewed, or the gentle lilt of his thyroid when he swallowed. Matt could only imagine how it would feel for Jeremy to swallow around his cock like that.

"Do I have syrup on my face something?" Jeremy asked with wide eyes, rubbing at his cheek self consciously.

"Naw," Matt smiled in what he hoped was an innocent way. "I was just spacing out." And he turned back to his food. But from then on, whenever Matt looked up, he would find Jeremy's eyes on him. Matt would simply smile and continue to eat. And Jeremy would always smile in return.

"I've been thinking about trying out for a sport next year," Jeremy said casually as they finished up. "Was it hard getting on the football team?"

"Well… not _really,_ " Matt answered, surprised by the question. Jeremy didn't seem like a footballsy kind of guy. "I just tried out and… made it. But I have the stature for it, so that probably helped. Why the sudden interest?"

"Eh…" He shrugged, grinning broadly. "I just think it'll be an easy way to get chicks."

Matt chuckled, rolling his eyes. Of _course_. That's what most guys did it for, right? "Yeah. I admit, chicks _do_ fawn over the football players. But I would take you for more of a baseball kind of guy."

"You think?" Jeremy asked quizzically.

"Yeah," Matt assured him. "You've got that kind of frame. You're tall and lean. Honestly, if you played football you'd _probably_ just get thrown around the field… That's okay though because the girls fawn over the baseball players too. But you don't _need_ to play a sport though because of _course_ a guy like you already has a girlfriend." Matt added the last bit casually in a brilliant attempt at fishing for information.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Jeremy asked, scooping up his and Matt's plate up and going to the sink. "I'm a scrawny quiet loner. What girl would want _me?_ "

Matt scowled at the younger teen's back. _What?_ Was he _crazy?_

"Well it sounds _terrible_ when you say it like _that,_ " Matt chuckled. "But from my perspective, you're that hot mysterious guy that sits in the corner. Plenty of girls find that attractive."

Jeremy frowned as he ran water over the plates and pans, a warm blush filling his cheeks. "Did you just call me hot?"

Oh shit… Matt had, hadn't he? He decided to play it off with nonchalance. "What?" he said innocently. "Just calling it how I see it. You're a cute guy. _Anyone_ can see that. If you opened up your eyes, you might see it too."

Jeremy blushed again. "Well, then… thanks… I guess…"

It was at that moment that they heard the front door open. "Jeremy? Elena?" a light female voice called.

"I'm in here, Jenna," Jeremy called out. A couple of footsteps and the blonde woman stood on the other side of the kitchen's bar.

"Matt?" she asked dubiously after laying eyes on him. "Is that _you?_ "

"Yeah, it's me, Jenna." Matt smiled warmly.

"Wow!" She stepped around the bar and he stood, letting the woman scoop him into a hug. She had to tilt upwards to get her arms around his neck. "Look at you! I haven't seen you since you were like… what? Twelve?"

"Something like that," he shrugged in her arms.

"And didn't you fill _out…_ " she said, squeezing his biceps as she released him.

Matt felt himself blush deeply at the compliment.

"Aww… I'm just _teasing._ " She gave him an innocent wink and turned her attention to Jeremy.

"Hey, Jer," she greeted him warmly, giving him a hug as well.

"Hey, Jenna," he smiled and leaned into her hug, but kept his hands in the soapy water, continuing to wash the few dishes.

Sensing that some family _bonding_ or something like that was about to occur, Matt decided that it was time to take his leave.

"I think I'm gonna, head out," he said. "I should go get ready for work."

"Wait." Jenna stopped him. She glanced between the two boys. "You two were talking. _Please,_ don't leave on my account," Jenna said, ardently. "I'll just grab my bags and get settled in upstairs. You guy can finish up whatever you were discussing, before I interrupted." She had begun to move to do just that, but Matt stopped her.

"No, really. I should go get ready. I need a shower and everything." He hastily made his way to the door. "I had fun, Jer. We should do this again sometime." The smile Jeremy gave him put sunshine to shame.

"Definitely."


	3. Chapter 3

Miranda and Grayson's funeral took place on a sunny Saturday, the week after their untimely death. It was a solemn affair, but still a beautiful service. There were a lot of flowers and a lot of crying. There were a lot of people Matt recognized, and a lot of people he didn't, but of all of them, Jenna stood out magnificently. She sat in the front row wearing a simple yet somehow still elegant black dress. She wore a black veil and black gloves and even had a little handheld fan to top off the scene.

At first the service had been a little awkward in the presence of Elena. Matt still wasn't sure, but he felt like she'd been avoiding looking at him. Then he'd thought that maybe he was just being paranoid. The girl was burying her _parents_ , the people that had been generous to him his entire life, providing him food and sometimes even a bed to sleep in. After that thought, he'd ignored Elena and focused on the service instead. But before long, everyone had said so many nice things about the Gilberts—even Matt's mom gave a short bit about what a great best friend Miranda had been—that it all started to get kind of sappy and unoriginal.

The reception was a little more cheerful. People began to mingle and laugh at memories. But Matt could tell that Jeremy was getting a little uncomfortable, maybe even a little _angry_ after so many people kept giving him their condolences and telling him how sorry they were. Someone constantly tried to strike up conversation with him about the memory of his late parents. Seeing the boy like that had been almost physically painful for Matt, so he'd taken it upon himself to act as a buffer.

After maybe the fourth assailant, Matt could see that Jeremy was close to punching someone, so he'd swooped in and literally taken Jeremy under his arm. It was usually some old great aunt that Jeremy could barely remember, if at all, who would linger too long, going pass the casual condolence and off into some distant memory she had of the Gilberts and Matt would kindly interrupt by saying he and Jeremy were going to get punch or hors d'oeuvres.

"Thanks, Matt," Jeremy sighed as they escaped their umpteenth old lady. This one had apparently been the niece of Jeremy's grandma on his dad's side or something like that. "I'm this close to socking an old lady today," he chuckled, holding his thumb and index finger millimeters apart as an example of his thinning patience.

Matt chuckled along. "You know what?" Matt joked, "In this case, they might deserve it. Think we could get away with punching someone's grandma?"

The laugh he got out of Jeremy was worth it. It was great to see him smile after having such a somber face all day. " _Naw…._ " he said. "Let's not risk it."

"Look, I know this is for your parents and all," Matt said, growing serious. "But the actual _burial_ is over. If you want, we can get out of here."

"Dude, _please_ ," Jeremy responded desperately. "I'm _so_ ready to get out of this suit. The tie is choking me." Matt actually thought Jeremy looked kind of… _hot_ in his black two piece. It was so form fitting. The way those slacks _clung_ to his to body was making Matt want to devour—

"Yeah, _totally_ ," Matt said, coughing to clear his filthy mind.

"Where's Jenna?" Jeremy asked, peering around the sparsely dense room and locating her the other side talking animatedly to one of their previous assailants. "Let's go." He grabbed Matt by the sleeve of his jacket and they made a break for the door. Several people noticed them moving a little too quickly to be inside of a building, but no one who cared enough to stop them.

It was when they reached the exit that Elena's turning head caught Matt's attention from over by the punch table. He locked eyes with her for a small second and she had a surprised expression that quickly turned into… _envy_? But then it didn't matter. Matt didn't have time to wrap his mind around it, because they were outside, the doors closing behind them, the crisp spring air and sunshine touching their faces. But apparently there was no time for that either.

"Come on," Jeremy said hastily. "Where's your truck? I think Elena saw us." A short trot across the parking lot and they were almost speeding away from the funeral home.

" _Finally_ , I'm _free,_ " Jeremy sighed in the passenger's seat, tugging at his tie to loosen it.

Matt smiled and risked a glance at him. "So where do you want to go?"

"Take me home, get me out of this suit, and we can go _anywhere_ ," Jeremy responded gratefully. The way he said _get me out of this suit_ registered a little differently in Matt's brain. It held ambiguity that Jeremy hadn't even intended. Matt thought it was kind of funny how you could find sexual references in almost anything someone said when you want to fuck them.

That night, Matt masturbated fiercley to thoughts of Jeremy in that two piece.

—

After having a solid week out, the Gilberts returned to school that Monday. Matt was sure to keep a watchful eye on Jeremy whenever he could. He didn't want the kid to wind up suspended for punching somebody that wouldn't leave him alone. Elena smiled and waved at Matt in the few classes they had together, but she never actively approached him, or spoke to him, even though they hadn't done so since she'd dumped him over a week ago. Honestly, he was perfectly fine with that. They didn't have to talk.

Matt had discovered sometime during the previous week that breaking up with her wasn't as scary as he thought it would we be. Sure a couple of girls had swooped in on him to take their chance with one of the school's star players, but Matt had found he could easily mask his disinterest with the facade of licking his fresh wounds. He could still hide under his and Elena's relationship, without even being in it.

Although Tyler wasn't making it any better. He'd constantly bantered in Matt's ear, insisting that the best way to get over a relationship was find a hot rebound. The overzealous guy had pointed out a couple of chicks that were undoubtedly hot and allegedly wanted to open her legs for Matt. Matt had continued to brush them all off and Tyler had continued to find them, until Matt had finally pulled his friend aside and told him the truth.

There had been dead silence as the words fumbled from Matt's mouth. It was like the bustling students in the hall behind them had been put on mute and Matt stared at his friend apprehensively. He didn't want to lose Tyler, but he couldn't keep lying to him.

"Seriously?" was the first word that had escaped Tyler, his eyes the size of quarters. "Are you sure?"

"Well… _yeah…_ " Matt had said, peering around them in the hall to make sure no one was listening. "I mean… if popping _boners_ whenever a cute guy smiles is any sign…"

"Oh…" Tyler's face had been unreadable while Matt's heart pounded against his ribs as he waited for his friend to respond. "Well... you know that asian guy, Carl Lau, in English Lit?"

"Yeah…" Matt had said tentatively.

"I've always been curious about him. Maybe _he_ could be your rebound." And all of the sound had abruptly returned. Matt had facepalmed, but he was secretly elated that his best friend had taken it into stride so easily.

"I'm not _looking_ for a rebound, Ty," Matt had groaned, turning to continue down the hall. "Honestly I haven't liked Elena for a while," Matt admitted. "At least not like _that._ I was just using her to make people think I'm straight.." Matt had felt so ashamed to finally admit that someone other than himself.

But Tyler has punched him in the arm and grinned. "You _dirty dog!_ That was brilliant! I never suspected a thing!"

"Come on. That just makes feel worse about it."

"Wait—" Tyler had come to an abrupt halt in the hall, making some random kid bump into him.

"Sorry, dude," the guy said. But Tyler completely ignored him.

"Wait, you don't get boners over _me_ do you?"

"Uh, _no…_ " Matt had immediately lied indignantly. He got stiff ones over _all_ the hot guys in the showers; Tyler was no exception. But Matt would never tell Tyler that because he'd _never_ make a pass at his friend or anything if that's what Tyler was worried about.

"Oh, okay. Because I would've been completely flattered," he grinned, "but we both know that I like pussy too much." And with that, he'd wrapped an arm around Matt's neck and continued to their next class.

Matt was driving home from practice thinking about that day, thinking of how grateful he was to still have his best friend at his side, when his phone chirped in his pocket. After digging it out, looking at the screen and seeing that it was Elena, he almost didn't answer. She'd just seen him almost all day in school. Now she wanted to call him after over a _week_ of no communication? What the fuck?

But even though they weren't together anymore, they were still kind of on rocky ground because of it, Elena was still his friend, the same girl she had always been. He had to remind himself, even though it was Elena who had ended the relationship, it was his fault. Maybe one day he would be able to tell her the truth, that she was right about them. There _hadn't_ been any depth to their relationship and he was reason. But that day wasn't today. He was going to ride their breakup recovery out as long as he could.

"Yeah?" he answered, trying to put as much emotional pain into that one syllable as he could.

"Matt?" Wait what? That wasn't Elena.

" _Jenna?_ " The tone of Matt's voice changed so abruptly, he almost startled himself.

"Hi, Matt. I dropped my phone in the stupid toilet," she explained irritably, "so I used Elena's."

"That's okay. When I saw her name I just thought…" _She was calling to talk about us and I was preparing myself to lie._

"Yeah… She told me about your breakup. I'm sorry if I made you think it was her calling you," she said sincerely.

"No. It's fine. What can I do for you?"

"I just need a man's strength. I finally got around to cleaning out Miranda and Grayson's room, donating their things, and a couple of the boxes has some _heft_ to them. I couldn't bare to ask Jeremy to help me with it. But honestly, I'll understand if you don't want to see Elena."

"No. It's fine, _really,_ Jenna. I'll be happy to help." _It'll give me an excuse to see Jeremy._ "Let me drop my gear off at home and I'll be right over. We can use the bed of my truck, knock it all out in one trip."

She sighed into the phone. "Thanks, Matt. You're the best."

"Give me like twenty minutes. Tops."

"K. Bye." She honestly sounded relieved as he heard the line die in his ear.

Matt got home to an empty house. No surprise. Everyone was probably off on some _bender_. Sometimes Matt felt like he was the only normal person in their home. But then again, with the way he'd been using Elena—and kind of still was—how good of a person could he be? He dropped his football gear off on his bed and set right back out.

Driving back across Mystic Falls, Matt had to admit how beautiful the little town was. People were out walking their dogs. Children played in lawns. Everyone had the white picket fence family. Everyone but him. And everyone _knew_ they didn't. Everyone knew about Kelly Donovan and the many men she passed through her home. Because this town was too _small._ _Everyone_ knew _everyone._

And it was for that reason that Matt had to get out. He had to leave Mystic Falls, leave _Virginia._ Or he felt like he would never be able to be himself. A part of him wanted to hop a freight and go wherever he wound up, so he could just _be…_ He could create a completely new identity. He could be openly gay and happy and no one would know he had ever been anything else. He could steal Jeremy and they could just run away.

He let the ridiculous fantasy carry him over to the Gilberts and pulled up to it for the millionth time…. but looking at it now, it felt so different, knowing that Mr. or Mrs. Grayson wouldn't greet him at the door, knowing that Elena was in there and how weird things had gotten between them. Still, Jeremy was in there, and that thought helped him get out of the truck and climb the stairs.

Before he could even knock, Jenna was swinging the door open. "I saw you pull up from the window upstairs," she explained. "Come in."

Matt stepped inside, looking around the familiar home… and there he was, sitting in the living room, looking as amazing as always, watching… baseball?

"Hey, Jer," Matt called out to the boy from the foyer.

"Hey, dude." The way his face practically _illuminated_ when he saw Matt, made the older boy's heart thump. Was Jeremy as happy to see Matt as Matt was to see him? _Of course not,_ Matt told himself. Jeremy couldn't feel the same way. He just needed a friend at this time in his life. He was happy to see Matt, because Matt was being that person for him.

"How is he?" Matt asked Jenna quietly as they climbed the stairs.

She sighed and glanced over at him before they reached the top of the stairs and no longer had a view. "He puts on brave face and it's really convincing. But honestly I'm waiting on him to break down. Not _once_ has Elena seen or heard him cry and neither have I, even at the funeral. Honestly, I don't think he has yet. It's not good for him."

"I'll try to get him to talk to me," Matt assured her. He didn't think it was good for the boy to keep his feelings bottled up either. "So he's watching _baseball_ now?"

"Yeah. Elena _told_ me that it was a new thing, but from how interested he is in it, it's like he's been into forever. This morning he was talking about going to the batting cages."

Wow… Matt had simply given Jeremy his honest opinion. He didn't think the boy would actually _listen._ It was flattering that Jeremy had taken his suggestion to heart like that.

"I could take him to a cage if you'd like," Matt offered.

"That would actually be _great,_ " Jenna smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Miranda always told me how quiet a boy he is, that he spends a lot of time alone and inside. That's not right for a kid his age. I think it would do him some good to spend time with someone like you." She smiled up at Matt.

Sure she thought that _now_. Matt wondered what she would think of them spending so much time together if she knew how often he'd thought of _defiling_ her nephew. Then she opened the door to the Gilbert parents' room and Matt's mind went blank.

There were cardboard boxes of various sizes _everywhere…._ on the bed, stacked in the closet all over the floor. They had to maneuver around them to get into the room. _Damn,_ they sure had a lot of stuff. What had Matt signed himself up for? A small part of him wanted to turn around and walk back to his truck. But he'd said he would do it… He pounded his fist into his palm and nodded in resolve.

"You did _all of this_ by _yourself?_ " he asked incredulously.

"I've been at it since yesterday morning," she said, the exhaustion clear in her tone.

"This is gonna take more than one trip…" Matt chuckled. "At _least_ three…"

"Well, the sooner we can get it all out the better. I've been sleeping on the couch for a week and my neck has suffered because of it." She sighed. "I just can't bare to sleep in my sister's bed with all of her and her husband's things around me…" Her voice cracked and Matt could see the tears forming in her eyes. "Nope." She swiftly wiped the tears away. "I am _not_ going to cry. I told myself I was done crying."

"Okay. So where do you want to start?" Maybe working would take her mind off of it. _Probably_ not, considering they were literally surrounded in her sister's things. But hey, a guy could hope.

"The things in the closet and on the bed, I'm not giving away. Those are pictures and things that I can't bare to look at right now and I'm pretty sure Jeremy and Elena can't either. But I know at some point they _will_. So I want to put that stuff in the attic. Everything else is shoes, clothes, books, that kind of stuff."

"Well in _that_ case," Matt said, eyeing out what needed to be taken and what didn't, "if you follow behind me in your car, we could do this in one trip."

She sighed in relief. "That's great. I _hate_ to think how much gas I would've burned if I didn't have your truck, so thanks again for that." And with a sudden sudden air of determination, she was off. "Okay. The center closes at seven. So let's get everything that needs to go _out_ first." She stooped to grab the nearest box—

" _Nope,_ not that one," she said sharply, abruptly abandoning attempt. She kicked the one next to it and honestly, Matt could _hear_ the weight. It barely budged. "I'll leave _that_ one for you as well." She kicked another box and when it slid a good two feet—

" _There's_ a good one," she smiled, scooping the lightweight box up and set off down the hall.

Matt grabbed the first one she'd kicked and immediately wondered what on _Earth_ was in. Bowling balls? If all of the boxes were like this one, how had she even managed to move them around the room? Peering in as he trudged down the hall, he discovered that the bulky box was filled to the brim with hard back books. Who read that much? He trotted down to his truck and came back for another. Back and forth he and Jenna went.

Things moved a little faster once Jeremy caught sight of what they were doing. He immediately rose from the couch to assist them, even though Jenna insisted he didn't have to. Still he toughed it out with a brave face, just like Jenna said he'd been doing, stoically going back and forth to his parents' room as if it didn't phase him in the slightest to be carrying away their possessions. He even joked along when Matt told him he was pretty strong for such a scrawny guy, saying big things usually came in little packages. Matt had laughed with him, thinking to himself how _sexual_ that had sounded, but honestly, Matt thought Jenna was right. There was a dam inside of him and the weather was storming hard around it. Matt only hoped that he was around to control the damage when it finally burst.

They were taking out the last few boxes, the sun kissing the top of the trees when the noise finally made Elena emerge, her phone stuck up to her ear. Matt was headed back up for the last round when everything got tense.

"Hold on just a sec—What's going on out here? What are you two—Matt…" Her surprise to see him was almost comical. She raked her hair behind her ear in the way she did when she was nervous. "I'm—uh—I'm gonna call you back," she swiftly stammered into the phone. "What are you doing here?"

"Your aunt asked me to help her carry some stuff out." Matt stood stiffly watching Elena. Jenna and Jeremy both passed by and eyed the two of them but didn't say anything.

"I saw you with Jer at the funeral," she said, as if as she were grasping for something to talk about. "I could tell he was getting annoyed but I couldn't really do anything about it because I was too busy getting assaulted myself. So… thanks for helping him."

"You're welcome. Even though I didn't do it for you. I did it for Jeremy," Matt said honestly, and because he hadn't intended it to, he felt a little bad when he saw how much the comment stung her. But he wouldn't apologize for telling the truth.

"So how are you?" she asked, and Matt could tell that she really cared. Even with all of her own problems. And well didn't that just make him feel worse. She was still his friend and he was lying to her. But even so, he played his part off well. He had to make it believable.

"You broke up with me," he responded, a little acerbically. "How do you think I feel?"

"I'm _sorry_ , Matt. I just—you walked away so _fast._ And I—"

"It's okay Elena," he interrupted. "You've got your own problems to deal with right now. We can talk about it… you know…"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Yeah." And Matt walked away from her again. He grabbed the last box and followed Jenna back down the stairs, leaving Elena watching from the sidelines with a forlorned expression.

As it turned out, with the boxes stacked double—triple in a few places, Matt had to drive a little slowly—everything was able to fit into the bed of Matt's truck. The three of them climbed into his cab, thinking they'd need all of the hands again to unload, but were thoroughly surprised when they wound up sitting there watching each other as three of the center's employees unloaded the truck for them.

The verbal exchange between Jenna and the donation center was mostly non-existent. Nothing beyond casual greetings. Then Jenna had signed a paper saying she wouldn't come back later and try to take her stuff back. Since then they'd been sitting silently in the cab as the men worked. The entire time Jenna had been looking a little envious as Matt and Jeremy fiddled with their phones. The silence was so dense, when she spoke abruptly, she startled them both.

"I need to go find a bathroom," she said, unbuckling herself. "I have to pee. _Desperately._ I was trying to hold until we got back in but these guys are taking _forever_ and I'm just _not_ gonna make it." Before either of them could say anything, she was already out the cab, talking to one of the men unloading the truck. Then she dashed off around the corner in the direction of his pointed finger. Matt heard Jeremy chuckle something that sounded like, "...tiny bladder…" before he turned back to his phone.

"So Jenna tells me that you want to go to a baseball cage," Matt said casually.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I've been watching a couple of games since you told me you thought I might be good at it, and... I _think_ I kind of like it. I'll be sitting there watching the screen," he looked up from his phone smiling, "and the _anticipation_ is just like…. Is he gonna steal the base? Is he gonna make it home? I guess it's the _suspense_ that's exciting _._ You know?" Jeremy concluded.

Personally, Matt thought baseball was boring, sitting around waiting on something to happen most of the time. But the radiance Jeremy was emitting in the cab made Matt nod and agree. With that enticing smile of his, Jeremy could probably get Matt to agree to murder.

"Now I want to go to the cage so I can actually get my hands in it."

"Well, whenever you want to go," Matt shrugged as if it were no problem, "just let me know."

"Yeah?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow.

"Sure. I'd be happy to take you." Of _course_. It was a reason for them to spend more time together. "Anytime."

"How about tomorrow evening?"

"Anytime but _that_ time," Matt amended, his apologies in his tone. "I've got to work tomorrow evening. But Wednesday evening I'm _completely_ free."

The passenger door opened, startling them yet again, as Jenna climbed back in. Jeremy grinned at her.

"Feel better?" Jeremy chuckled.

"I feel _much_ better," she sighed, placing a small blue paper bag in her lap and she settled. The bag was folded across the top and they couldn't see what was inside. "Is like this weight has been lifted."

"What's that?" Jeremy asked quizzically, pointing to the little blue bag. "I thought you were going to the bathroom."

"Well, I _did,_ " she explained. "But I had to go to the shop next door because apparently the donation center doesn't have a public restroom, but anyway…. Can you do me _weird_ favor and hold your left hand out for me?"

Jeremy's eyebrows almost touched each other. "O... _kay…_ " he chuckled again, holding out his hand as if he were going to receive a handshake. "That's definitely a weird request."

"No, not like that," Jenna smiled sweetly, rearranging his hand until she could spread her own palm across his like Tarzan did Jane's. Jeremy and Matt were both looking thoroughly perplexed when she emitted a cheerful little squeak.

"I was right when I thought our hands were the same size!"

"Are you saying I have tiny hands?" Jeremy asked, a little insulted.

"You do, Jer, but that's not the point," she answered quickly, shoving her hand into the bag. "This is."

Jeremy beamed at the shabby brown baseball glove she withdrew. He looked like a six year old kid on Christmas. "Jenna! You're the best!" He pulled her into as much of a hug as he could manage in the small cab. Matt simply smiled, watching the affectionate scene unfold before him.

"I found it in the shop," she explained cheerfully, giving him the old glove. "I was on the way out the door and it just caught my eye! It fits my hand perfectly so I'm sure it'll fit yours too. And I figured that if you're gonna have a glove, you may as well have…" One more reach into the bag and she came out with a baseball that was in the same condition as the glove.

Jeremy took it from her, grinning from ear to ear. He looked lost of words and seemed to be torn between gazing affectionately at his aunt or admiring his new—to him—gifts. In the end, one of the men tapping on Jenna's window, giving her a two fingered salute to let her know they were all done, pulled Jeremy from his reverie.

"Thank you _so much_ Jenna." He pulled her into another hug and turned to Matt, beaming. "Wednesday is perfect."


	4. Chapter 4

Waiting for Wednesday was one of hardest things Matt had ever done, even though he only had to wait one day. Tuesday seemed to take forever to go by. School had been long and dull. His shift had been just a long and tedious. Matt just wanted to get the day over with because he and Jeremy had a _date!_ No. It wasn't a date. It was just a prearranged meeting between two friends. That's what Matt kept telling himself. But that Wednesday turned out to be much more than he expected in several ways.

It started out in school when Matt's English teacher slapped an paper onto his desk with a big red 'D-' in the top right hand corner. Matt stared down dumbfounded. What? He'd worked _hard_ on that! He'd gone to the school's library three days in a row to write that paper.

"I expect a properly written essay on my desk by Monday," she said sharply. "You may let that jock stereotype fool the other teachers, but I know you can do better. _No,_ recycling. I want completely new material." And with that she turned and continued to hand out essays.

When the bell finally rang, Matt left class fuming.

" _Fucking_ D minus…" he mumbled, switching his books around in his locker. "There's only _one more week_ of school. Who gives _essays_ at the end of the year anyway?" He didn't even noticed that he was being a little rough with his locker door until someone quizzically pointed it out to him.

"What did that locker ever do you?"

He closed the door, and found Jeremy standing there grinning, his bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Hey, Jer," Matt sighed running a hand through his hair. "I'm just upset that I have to rewrite a stupid essay. And it's not even _writing_ the essay that's got me pissed. I just… with work and football practice, I don't have to time keep going to the damn library. And I type so _slow…._ I'm like a grandma on the freeway."

"Why're you going to the library?" Jeremy asked, genuinely confused.

Matt rolled his eyes and grinned. "I don't have a computer at home like you guys. My mom's so irresponsible she barely keeps the electricity on. She's not paying for internet."

"Well that sucks balls," Jeremy smiled, "but you know you can write the paper on your phone, right?"

"Huh?" What was this dark sorcery he spoke of?

"Yeah, I do it all the time. Discovered it last year when I too lazy to get out of bed one night." Jeremy said, holding out his palm. "Let me show you." Matt placed his phone in the boy's outstretched hand. "Unlock it. I promise I won't go through your search history." Jeremy winked and grinned, making Matt blush. Oh God… all of the gay porn in Matt's history? If that didn't out him what would?

"So you just go to this website," Jeremy tapped around on the screen with Matt looking over his shoulder, "type up your paper, and it automatically saves online. Then you pull up the same website on a computer, copy, paste, reformat, and print." Jeremy smiled at the simplicity of it. "You can write your paper in your spare time, then spend five minutes in the library instead of five hours."

"Wow…" Matt mumbled in genuine amazement. "That's _really_ convenient. And so _simple._ Why didn't _I_ think of that?"

"Well… we can't all be as brilliant as I am," Jeremy joked, as the bell rang, letting them know they had three minutes to get to their next class.

"Oh ha ha," Matt responded sarcastically. And Jeremy gave him a two fingered salute, setting off down the hallway.

—

A few long, uneventful hours later, Matt and Jeremy sat in the small outdoor eatery of the batting cage after Jeremy had swung a few rounds—the kid was rusty but after a few more practices he might actually make the team—and Matt stared into his little bowl of ice cream and drizzled toppings with a look of utter amazement.

He pulled the spoon of ice cream up to his mouth again. Whatever it was, it was _delicious._ Jeremy had played it safe and ordered a banana split. But the the cashier had said something about their 'daily special' with caramel, nuts, and whatnot and Matt had figured, _What the hell?_ Worst comes to worst, he'd wasted three bucks.

 _Best_ decision he'd made all day. Matt's tastebuds had never been so pleased with him. They were having a party in his mouth as a thank you. Matt was thinking that maybe he should suggest the owners name the ice cream that. Party in Your Mouth. Who _wouldn't_ want to try it?

"Oh my God…" He took another delectable bite. "Oh my _God._ Jer, you gotta to try this." Matt promptly pushed the bowl in front of the boy across from him.

"I guess," Jeremy grinned, pushing his ice cream to the side."You're making some pretty orgasmic sounds over there."

Matt fought the blush creeping into his face. The two of them were sitting alone at an eatery and Matt had paid for Jeremy's ice cream because the younger boy didn't have job. It would make them look even _more_ like a couple if Matt sat there blushing in front of him.

"Oh wow…" Jeremy face illuminated, just as Matt's had. "This is _amazing._ What did the guy say this was?" Jeremy took another bite.

"I forgot," Matt admitted. "It's like three different ice creams, some caramel and nuts or something—and give it back!" He grinned, hastily reaching out and snatching the bowl away from Jeremy who was taking his fourth bite. "You wanted to be _safe_ with the banana split remember?"

"Jeremy?" Both boys turned abruptly at the sound the name being called out. A middle aged man was approaching from a few tables over where he'd been sitting with his family.

"Hi. Your dad and I went to school together. I'm _so sorry_ to hear about his accident," the man said, looking at Jeremy as if he were a wounded baby bird. "How're you holding up?"

Then, quite suddenly, Jeremy growled. His facial expression switched to something from a horror film and he was on his feet, whaling into the guy's face like Tyson. Left hook, right hook… Jeremy had got in three swift punches before either Matt or the other guy even knew what was happening. They were loud, cracking into the man's face. The abruptness of it all was actually _very_ frightening.

"Whoa!" Matt screamed, swiftly stepping around the table and wrapping his arms around Jeremy while the confused and terrified man folded his arms around his head to protect himself. "Dude, what are you doing?!"

"What's your problem, kid?!" the man spat, stumbling away, dark red marks on his face from Jeremy's fists. "You're crazy!"

"Stay the fuck out of my face!" Jeremy screamed at the retreating man, struggling in Matt's arms. "I'm _sick_ of you people!"

"Jer, dude! Calm down!" What the _fuck?_ Matt looked around the sitting area with wide eyes as he held a heaving Jeremy tightly. The man had made it back over to his wife and son and was hastily ushering them both to their car, looking over his shoulder to see if he was about to be assaulted again.

Everyone else had frozen in their seats. It was like a scene from a movie. One guy actually had a hotdog halfway to his mouth. They were all watching Jeremy tensely, as if he were an escaped rhino at the zoo. The only sound was the pitching machines shooting balls to the non attentive batters, for even the people over inside the cages had stopped to see what was happening.

"Okay, dude, let's just go…" Matt mumbled, pulling Jeremy to his truck. Jeremy didn't fight him. He simply stumbled along, still fuming, face red from his sudden rage.

"Wanna tell we what happened back there?" Matt asked, as they climbed into the cab. The younger teen was still shaking from his anger, trembling like Bruce Banner. Matt didn't know what do, what to say to calm the boy.

"I'm just so _sick_ of all the goddamn condolent people! I'm sick of them pitying me," Jeremy practically growled. "They treat me like some fragile doll! As if they actually care! They don't even _know_ me! My _parents_ died but I'm not… I'm not… They don't..." Jeremy grunted furiously, punching the dashboard, clearly angry at his lack of words.

"It _okay_ to be angry, Jer," Matt told him affectionately, staring intently at the younger boy even though Jeremy gazed out the windshield, refusing to look back. Matt hesitantly reached out for him and when Jeremy didn't flinch away he placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed. "It's okay to _feel._ But you can't keep it all bottled up like you've been doing. That's why you just randomly _assaulted_ someone's dad _._ "

"Why are you even _here?_ " Jeremy spat, fiercely shrugging Matt's hand away and finally looking at the older teen. The boy's eyes were filled with rage, like he wanted to rip something, _anything._ Matt could also see hurt, fear, and _pain…_

"I'm here because you wanted to practice baseball…" Matt said, confused at the sudden change of pace. "But I can take you home if you want." Mart didn't _want_ to take Jeremy home. He wanted to help the boy to let out all of that pent up aggression. Matt would get out of the truck and be Jeremy's human punching bag if that's what it took.

"No, why are you _here?_ Why are you even with me? Why did you offer to bring me here? Did Elena ask you to do it? Or did you only offer because you're trying to win back her affections with good favors for her brother?"

If Matt was being completely honest himself, that one hurt. It cut pretty deep. A lot deeper than anything physical Jeremy could've done. "Do you really think that?" he asked, the pain from the accusation clear in his tone.

"Why _else_ would you be doing it?" Matt could see angry tears forming in the boy's eyes. Jeremy tried to fight them but they slowly spilled out.

"Jer, I don't _want_ Elena back." Matt put as much emotion into his words as he could manage. He needed Jeremy to accept the truth. "I did this for _you._ I've been spending so much time with you for _you._ You needed a friend and I was more than happy to fill the position."

"Is that _it?_ You just want to be my _friend?_ " Jeremy's voice was bitter, his tear streaked face acerbic. Then he shook his head and turned away from Matt, crying openly, and speaking to the window now. "Take me home."

"Jer, let's just—"

"Take me home!"

"Okay…" Matt jumped, startled by the outburst. He fumbled into his jean pocket for his keys, still a little flustered. Jeremy had gotten so angry so _quickly._ Everything had been so _placid_. They'd been laughing over ice cream and then _wham!_ Mr. Hyde appears. Matt wanted to help but he didn't know what to _do._ What did Jeremy mean _you just wanna be my friend?_ Matt wanted to be _more_ than Jeremy's _friend_. He wanted _Jeremy_. Jeremy didn't need protection from the world. He was strong and resilient. He was a fighter and he made Matt laugh.

 _...you just want to be my friend?_ The sour words echoed through Matt's mind as he slid the key into the ignition. He peered over at the boy, trembling from his tears. Jeremy looked almost… _disappointed…._ Had he wanted…?

And before he even knew he was doing it, Matt was kissing him, he'd pulled the weeping boy into his arms and he was _finally_ kissing Jeremy. It was wet from the tears, and a little awkward in the tight cab, but it was still _everything..._ more than Matt had ever expected.

Jeremy's lips were unlike any girl Matt had kissed. They confounded Matt. Jeremy kissed back; he fought for dominance. His lips were firm and unrelenting. They didn't mold themselves around Matt's lips like any of the girls Matt had kissed. They presses back feverishly, though it was clear that Jeremy was inexperienced. Even so, he made up for it with enthusiasm.

The younger teen ran his finger's through Matt's short blonde hair and locked them there, leaning into the larger boy's lips, pulling their bodies together. When Jeremy's lips parted to breathe, Matt slipped his tongue inside and found heaven. They tickled each other's tongues, playing tag. Jeremy tasted like the ice cream they had shared. It made Matt want to _eat his mouth—_

"We should stop," Jeremy panted, pulling away.

"Why?" Matt mumbled, leaning forward to peck more kisses into the boy's retreating lips. He _finally_ had Jeremy. He didn't want to stop.

"Because we're making out in public parking lot," Jeremy chuckled.

"Oh," Matt said dimly, looking around and remembering where they were. "Right." He scooted back over to his side of the cab grinning fiercely. "I've just…. I've wanted to do that for a long time," Matt admitted a little sheepishly.

"I'm glad you finally did," Jeremy blushed.

"Yeah?" Matt blushed back, from the lack of anything better to say.

"Yeah," Jeremy sighed, still grinning broadly.

"Was that your first kiss, Jer?" Matt asked curiously, a small smile on the corner of his lips. When the other boy blushed a deep scarlet, dropped his head, and nodded stiffly, Matt could only smile at him affectionately.

"Was is that obvious?" Jeremy asked through his fierce blush. Matt simply lifted his chin and leaned over to place two more gentle pecks on those complex lips. Then Matt crank the truck and pulled off with the two of them blushing like the horny, idiot teenage boys they were. Jeremy softly slid his hand across the leather seat until it bumped into Matt's... and with Matt's eyes on the road and Jeremy's gazing out the passenger window... their fingers laced together.


	5. Chapter 5

After that kiss, Matt had driven Jeremy home with a stiff one that just wouldn't abate. Fortunately his jeans weren't tight so it wasn't that noticeable. Matt was so grateful when he got home to a dark house. He wouldn't have to try to hide it and whip through the side door. He could go straight to his room, rub it out and be as loud as he needed to be. But as he hung his keys up on the hook by the kitchen door, his dick straining for freedom, a strip of paper on the counter with familiar dark handwriting caught his attention. Matt curiously scooped it up.

The slanted writing could not be mistaken. It was a terse note from his mother, only a couple of sentences. But those few sentences shattered everything. Matt couldn't believe what he had read.

"I'm sorry, I _love you?_ " he said aloud, reading the valediction of the short letter again. As his eyes had raked over the paper for the third time, he _still_ couldn't believe what he was reading. Nothing in the house had changed. Everything was exactly where it was before he'd left for school. And this later _hadn't been there_ when Matt came home to drop his bag off. He would've noticed it.

He let the paper fall to the counter and dashed down the hall to his mother's room. The note couldn't be real. She couldn't do this. When he burst into the room, he found that it too was exactly how he remembered it, neat and tidy, the bed meticulously made, noncompliant with his mother's unorganized personality. But when Matt snatched open her closet door, he only found a few hangers, shaking from the sudden disturbance.

"No…" With trepidation in his eyes, he ripped drawer after drawer from her dressers, from the nightstands, until the floor was cluttered with the empty boxes off wood. "No!" He rushed back up the hall and snatched the paper back up from the counter, raking his eyes over the few sentences again. Maybe he had missed something, missed when she said she was coming back. He flipped the paper over to where he _knew_ the rest of the note was, and found that she'd simply written it on the back of an old electric bill.

"No…" The paper slipped from Matt's trembling fingers and fell to robe counter. He knew his mother was immature and irresponsible but… "I'm sorry I _fucking love you?!_ " Matt's shock slowly turned into fury and he slammed his fist into the counter, causing the dirty dishes in the sink to clatter against each other, a sound that was probably heard from the street outside. He didn't care. He did it again, and again, grunting furiously with each strike, one of the glasses shattering.

Matt stood there, clutching the counter and staring out the window for so long his fingers grew numb. So many emotions crossed over him, anger, sadness, fear, shock, hate… he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about it anymore. How could she do this? What did she expect them to do without her?

Then again, why was he so surprised? Is wasn't like she'd ever shown her undying care for her children over the years. She'd gave her many ever-changing boyfriends all of her attention. There was several months they'd gone without electricity or water because she'd let it get cut off. Honestly, if the house hadn't been in their family for several generations, they probably would've been kicked out on there asses a long time ago.

In the end, Matt calmly cleaned the broken glass from the sink and washed up the few dishes. It looked like the Party in Your Mouth he'd had at the batting cage's eatery was going to be his dinner for the night because when he opened the fridge… a half dozen of eggs, three beers left from a six pack, some coffee creamer, a few more bottles of condiments, and a quarter of a gallon of milk.

Matt poured up some of the milk in one of the freshly cleaned glasses and cringed after taking a sip, spitting it back in the cup. Well then…. Looks like they didn't have any milk either. He emptied his glass and the rest of the gallon down the drain, grabbing one of the beers instead. After popping it, he continued to stare blankly out the window. It was just like this that his sister found him when she finally stumbled in, hours later.

"Where you been?" he asked, placidly. His anger, fear, shock, everything had long since left, leaving him with nothing, a hollow shell that he didn't recognize. He turned to the doorway with the can pressed to his lips and heavy eyelids, then he emptied the last can of beer. He'd started to feel a little buzzed halfway through the second one but that hadn't stopped him.

"None of your business, _Dad_ ," she drawled. It was obvious that she'd been drinking as well, though clearly much more than Matt. Probably smoked something too. "Pete's gonna murder you for drinking his beer," she said, noting the two empty cans on the counter and the one he'd just pulled back from his mouth. She flopped down lazily on the couch, flipping her feet up over the arm of it and kicking off a pair of their mom's heels and flexing her toes.

"He would if he were still here," Matt sighed, crushing the empty can in his hand and tossing it on the counter where it clanked next to the other two. "Mom was probably looking for her shoes," he vacantly added, gesturing to the heels now haphazardly lying on the floor at end of the sofa. Vicki completely ignored the the second statement and popped up on her elbow, peering at Matt over the back of the sofa.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Matt detected a bit of excitement in her voice. "Did Mom finally kick him out on his lazy ass?"

As an answer, he simply gestured to the note he'd left on the counter, sure that Vicki wouldn't believe it unless she saw the their mother's thick, heavy letters with her own eyes. Vicki frowned at him, but stumbled around the bar and into the kitchen all the same and snatched up the piece of paper. Matt silently let her read the few life shattering sentences as he gathered up the three cans and dropped them in the garbage on the way to the sofa. The letter was so short, that by the time he'd settled in, Vicki had finished it.

"I'm sorry, I love you?" Her voice was small. So small. Had they not been in the quiet house Matt wouldn't have heard her. He peered over his shoulder to see that she too was doing the same thing he had done, checking the back of the paper for the rest of the letter, because surely those few sentences couldn't be it. But when she found the electric bill on the back, she flip the paper back over and read it again in disbelief.

"She _can't_ be serious… What does she—" Vickie flipped the paper over again, as if the bill on the back had magically transformed somehow.

"I'm sorry, I _fucking love you?!_ " Her voice cracked as the tears gathered in her eyes. Her tone and facial expression suggested that those were the most offensive words someone had ever said to her. Vicki let out a furious sound, somewhere between a scream and grunt as she lit up the gas stove and set the paper ablaze, flinging it in the sink. "I'm sorry, I lo—I hate her!" She stomped back around the couch and threw herself into her brother's arms, her tears flowing freely.

Matt wrapped his arms around her lithe frame and squeezed, holding her as her body trembled with tears. He wasn't sure how long they sat there that way, how long she weeped. But he held her. He held her and watched the door, waiting for their mom to come through it. Waiting for her to come and tell them it was all just a big joke.

He waited a long time. But in the end… Matt remembered that he had an essay to start.

—

The next morning when Matt left for school, he somehow found himself parked in front of the Gilbert home instead. He hadn't even made a conscious effort to go there. It was as if his truck had simply followed the familiar path, as if the building had become some sort of comforting factor for Matt. Or maybe just the person he knew was inside of it.

He had already decided that he wouldn't tell Jeremy, or anyone for the matter, about his mother's abrupt departure. What would they do about it? If the wrong person caught wind of it, social services would be all over Matt's life, as if it wasn't bad enough. So he and Vicki had reached a mutual agreement to keep silent. They would figure it out.

Matt didn't have to wait long before Jeremy emerged, phone and earbuds at hand. Matt wasn't surprised when Jeremy didn't see his truck. He was parked at such an angle, that because Jeremy was going the other direction, missing the truck was easy to do. Matt smiled, a joke forming in his mind. He let Jeremy get a few blocks ahead, watching the sun shine in his hair as he strolled down the street, then Matt slowly caught up and pulled up next to him.

"Hey there. Where you going?" Matt asked amicably, slowing his truck to match Jeremy's speed, and leaning over slightly to speak out the passenger door.

"I'm just walking to school," Jeremy responded, like an incident schoolboy would. Matt was pleased that he was playing along.

"How about I give you a ride?" Matt asked, a cunning lilt to his tone. "It's kind of far walk." It really _wasn't_ but…

Jeremy stopped walking. "I'm not sure, man. I'm not supposed to get in the car with strangers."

"Come on..." Matt said, stopping as well. "I'm just a nice guy trying to do a good deed. Hey, I'll even let you pick the radio station."

Jeremy pretended to mull it over. "Well… in that case… okay." And he shrugged his bag from shoulders and tossed it in the cab before getting in the truck.

Matt grinned at him for a second, blinking a few times before pulling off. "We're gonna have to work on your safety, Jer. You shouldn't be that easy."

The laugh he got out of Jeremy was worth it. "No. _You_ shouldn't be so good at portraying a creepy abductor."

"Eh…" Matt shrugged, smiling. "Maybe I was a Golden Globe actor in a past life."

"Golden Globe? You weren't _that_ good," Jeremy teased.

" _Ouch_ …" Matt looked as if he'd been mortally wounded. "I _rehearsed_ that."

"Seriously?" Jeremy chuckled.

"Nope! _Totally_ spur of the moment."

Jeremy chuckled again. "Awesome, dude."

The cab grew silent for a small moment at Matt drove. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything. Just a pleasant silence with the two of them pleasantly watching the scenery. Until, just as it had the night before, Jeremy's hands slowly crept over to Matt's and their fingers curled together on the seat between them. Matt smiled.

"How was your night?" he asked. Matt felt Jeremy's hand tense in his own, so he risked a glance over at the boy. Jeremy was blushing fiercely out his window like a shy little girl. Honestly, Matt thought it was really cute. When Jeremy peered out of the corner of his eye and caught Matt shooting glances between him and the road, he blushed even harder.

"Cool… Uneventful. How was _your_ night?" Jeremy asked, in what was clearly an evasive manner. But no _way_ was Matt going to let him escape answering. The boy's response had Matt too curious.

"No, come on… something happened. _Tell_ me," Matt cajoled sweetly, pulling into a parking space at the school.

For a second, Jeremy looked as if he might refuse, like he would pull his sweaty palm away from Matt's and rush off to class scarlet faced. But he didn't. "After you dropped me off," Jeremy softly told his lap, his face as scarlet as a fresh apple. "I had a stiff one that wouldn't go away." He gave Matt a quick glance. So quick Matt wasn't completely sure he'd seen it. "So… I had to… _you know…_ "

Matt's breaths were quickening. Oh wow…. "Were you thinking about me?" he teased.

Jeremy nodded stiffly. The embarrassment looked so cute on him. Matt decided then that he would do whatever he could to get this response out of the boy as often as possible.

"What was I doing?" Matt asked softly. He didn't think it was possible, but Jeremy blushed even harder.

"No," he responded, shaking his head. "I'm not telling you that. I _can't…_ "

"Please?" Matt asked, looking at Jeremy through his thick blonde lashes. "I'll tell you about my thoughts of you."

"You think about me?" Jeremy asked, his eyes finally turning to Matt's. The bell rang and students slowly began to disperse, making their way into the building. But Matt and Jeremy ignored the ringing sound.

" _Yeah,_ " Matt assured him. "All the time… In one of them you were wearing that two piece suit. Oh my God, Jer, you looked so _hot_ in that two piece. When I got home that night…" Jeremy watched Matt intently and Matt gauged the lust in the younger boy's eyes. "I imagined myself taking it off you… I thought about touching you…"

Matt slowly ran a hand up Jeremy's thigh. Jeremy smiled as the hand reached his crotch. He peered out of the windows of the truck, watching the rest of the students slowly file into the building. No one was paying them the slightest attention.

"Let's go to the bathroom," he said softly.

"Yeah?" Matt asked, his excitement spilling into his voice.

"Come on." Jeremy bit his lower lip and climbed out of the cab, grabbing his bag from the bed. Then he casually made his way to the entrance of the school, with Matt trailing behind him.

Matt felt a little naughty when they locked themselves in the stall of the bathroom closest to the main office. It was empty because the bell had rang, everyone had filed into their homerooms. But what if the principle decide to take a take piss? _This_ is the bathroom he would go to.

But none of that mattered when Jeremy's lips found Matt's. Those intricate lips... He kissed the younger boy feverishly, pressing his back into the stall wall. Their tongues and teeth clashed like the clashing titans, battling for dominance. Matt slid Jeremy's legs apart with his knees so he could step between them and grind their erections together.

Their hands roamed freely, feeling and groping the new and unfamiliar territory. Matt groaned into Jeremy's mouth when the younger boy a got a firm grip on his ass and squeezed. His mind flashed across the first dream he had of Jeremy and again he wondered how it would feel to have the younger teen inside of him. Fuck… just the thought of it...

"Oh _fuck,_ Jer…" Matt roughly ground their crotches together. It felt _amazing_ … Jeremy's body finally pressed into his. Matt didn't think he'd ever been so hard in his life. His erection strained against his zipper, begging to escape.

Matt slowly moved his hand around Jeremy's waste and Jeremy gasped when Matt softly unfastened his jeans for him. He made easy work of the boy's zipper and slipped his thumbs under the band of the boxer shorts. Then after a swift downwards tug…

Jeremy's stiff appendage sprang free, pink and veiny. It sat underneath a thin patch of dark brown hair, with a bit of precum leaking from its tip. It wasn't a very thick penis, maybe the same circumference of a pill bottle. Matt was definitely thicker. But what Jeremy lacked in girth, he made up for _exponentially_ in length. From simply looking at it, Matt was sure it _had_ to be almost as long as an egg carton. However, these things were not what captured Matt's attention in with amazement.

"Oh my God, Jer," Matt said, staring at the piece of meat in awe. "You're not _cut…_ "

"Do you think it's weird?" Jeremy asked, his eyebrows scrunched together timidly, his hands relaxing a bit on Matt's backside. His entire posture seem to slump with the question.

" _Weird?_ " Matt said, as if Jeremy had just asked him the silliest thing. "It's _beautiful…"_

"Yeah?" Jeremy grinned, immediately perking back up. He was clearly elated that Matt had accepted it. He squeezed Matt's ass again, almost as if as a reward.

"Yeah, I've just never seen an uncircumcised cock before." The amazement was obvious in Matt's tone. It was definitely a sight to behold. In all of Matt's fantasies of Jeremy, he had never imagined something so wonderful.

Matt wrapped his fingers around the shaft, and Jeremy hissed, gripping Matt's ass even tighter, his tip peeping out of the foreskin like a pig in a blanket. Although the thumb of Matt's hand lapped over the tip of his fingers, his fist could only cover half of Jeremy's impressive shaft.

"And you're so fucking _long…_ " Matt said, as he began to stroke the extensive appendage, making the foreskin drawback from the head. Matt reached around the boy and caressed his exposed backside, gently squeezing the warm, soft pliable skin.

"Oh my _God…_ " was Jeremy's response, as his eyes fluttered closed and his head fell back, thumping into the wall of the stall. Matt gently stroked the long shaft, going from the head to maybe halfway down and back and Jeremy thrusted into Matt's fist. Matt was captivated by the way the foreskin moved. Jeremy's precum dripped from the slit at the tip, glistening in a way that made Matt want to lick it.

"Jer?" Matt asked a little hesitantly. "Can I put you in my mouth?"

"What?" Jeremy asked, snapping his head up from the wall, eyes wide and startled.

"I want to _taste_ you," Matt said, a little more confidently, looking into his brown eyes. "Will you let me do that?"

"Umm…" A huge grin slowly broke out across his face. "Okay." Jeremy shrugged dumbly making Matt smile. He knelt before the younger boy in the tight bathroom stall, never breaking eye contact and gently pulled the rod to the side and released it, letting the long appendage smack him on the cheek as it sprang back into place. Matt had seen guys do that in porn and thought it was pretty hot. If the sharp breath he elicited from the other boy was anything to go off of, Jeremy apparently thought it was too.

Finally, with his hands resting on Jeremy's thighs, and still looking up into brown eyes, Matt slowly licked the slit of the glorious cock before him, making Jeremy hiss again. Matt sifted the precum around his tongue, tasting the salty substance. It wasn't… bad. The texture reminded Matt of raw egg white.

Matt sucked the tip of the cock into his mouth, wrapping his lips around it, making Jeremy gasp and twitch. Because it was curved, he had to sort of come at it sideways, but he managed it. Jeremy looked down at Matt in wonder. Then, trying to imitate what he'd seen in videos, Matt slowly pushed his head forward on the cock, taking bits of it until he could feel the head pressing against the back of his mouth and Jeremy was practically hyperventilating.

Matt couldn't even take half of it. The same amount that his fist was able to cover was how much he could fit into his mouth. Matt fumbled with the fastenings of his jeans until his own cock was finally free, stiff and aching. He tugged at it and the pleasure he felt somehow made the taste of the shaft in his mouth _better._

A part of Matt couldn't believe this was finally happening. After all of the lust, all of the fantasies, all of his desires and cravings, Matt finally had Jeremy's cock in his mouth, finally had the precum dripping onto his tongue. And Matt wanted _more._ He looked down at the dick and forced himself to take it, until he could feel the head in his throat, until he'd made it halfway. He _refused_ gag.

"Oh fuck, Matt," Jeremy's panted, looking down at him and running a hand across the back of his blonde head. He didn't apply any pressure, or guidance in anyway. He simply rested his hand there and Matt liked feel of it. It was as if a hand was _meant_ to be there during this process. Matt pulled back to breath. But not wanting to completely release the dick, he simply let the head rest on his tongue and he sucked at like a peppermint stick, working it with his tongue while breathing through his nose.

"Oh _fuck…"_ Jeremy's knees were buckling. Wow… Matt didn't even really know what he was doing. Could it feel that good? Could he just be a natural at it? Matt went back down on it, taking the shaft a _tad_ deeper this time. He pressed until tears welled in his eyes, then he sucked, like he was pulling a thick liquid through a straw, and Jeremy was coming.

"Oh God! Matt, I'm sorry," Jeremy cried, attempting to push the older boy away, but Matt resisted, holding steady. He wanted it. He wanted the aftertaste of Jeremy Gilbert. Matt let him spill his warm fluid down his throat, giving himself no choice. He had to swallow and he burst his own load from the feel of it flowing down into him. He tugged roughly at his cock, pouring his release out onto the the floor.

Jeremy seemed to be struggling to remain standing. He was visibly holding back a scream, only deep, guttural groans escaped him and because Matt's mouth was occupied, his pleasured moans vibrated around Jeremy's spent cock.

Matt looked up into those warm brown eyes and slowly let the softening appendage flop out of his mouth, with Jeremy beaming down at him like he was getting his first car. Matt stood, kissing his way up Jeremy's body along the way, lifting the boy's shirt to do so. He stopped when he reached the corner or his lips. He didn't know if Jeremy would want to kiss him after—

But Jeremy pulled their mouths together, pressing his tongue in and tasted himself. He cradled Matt's head, kissing him deeply.

"That was a-fucking… _mazing_ ," Jeremy sighed when he finally pulled away for air. He smiled lazily. "I'm probably gonna fall asleep in class. I'm sorry I came in your mouth, dude. It snuck up on me. I didn't have time—"

"It's okay." Matt blushed a brilliant crimson and grinned, pleased that Jeremy had enjoyed it. "I wanted it. I want to taste you in my mouth until I eat again." Jeremy blushed at his words and Matt rolled off some tissue to clean his hand and wipe his release from the floor. Then the two of them hastily fixed their clothes and bustled out of the bathroom. They were twenty three minutes late for their first class.


	6. Chapter 6

Before that evening could roll around, the top of Matt's throat was tingling a little whenever he swallowed, like someone had scraped at it with a cheese grater. Maybe he had taken the dick a little _too_ deep. He would have to be a bit more cautious about that next time. When the final bell rang, he stopped at a fountain to get an unhelpful drink of water, before dropping off his books and heading to The Grill.

Work that evening was different. Different as in completely uncharted territory. Since Matt had started, his job was to clean up the tables after the patrons left. That's it. Simple. Maybe he'd get trapped in the pit when the dishwasher took a break but that was only ever for thirty minutes, forty five tops. But that evening, with an unusually high amount of people coming in for a Thursday, his manager, Deena, had slapped an apron on him and thrust him into the kitchen without warning.

"Alex is coming in late today," she'd said sternly, positioning him in the confined fryer station. "I need you here for a couple of hours." He stared at all of the unfamiliar machinery with wavering eyes.

"But… I've never—"

"I know that," she interrupted, impatiently. "I make your schedule, remember? All I need you to do is cook the wings and drop the fries. Can you do that?" She ended it in a questionable manner but still somehow made it sound like a demand. It wasn't negotiable.

"Sounds easy enough…"

She clapped him on the shoulder and gave a tight smile. As if she'd _honestly_ been expecting a different answer? Matt wanted to roll his eyes.

"Knew I count on you," she said. "Now…" And she promptly threw a lot of information at Matt. It was swift and concise but he was sure that he comprehended all of it. Though it did make the task sound not so easy anymore.

She showed him the board hanging from the ceiling overhead that the orders popped up on and how to erase old tickets from the screen. But the troubling part, was _everything_ popped up on there, even the food that was someone else's job. So to clear out unnecessary tickets, cluttering up his screen, Matt would erase the burgers, the pulled-pork sandwiches… but then, he would accidentally erase a ticket that had something he needed on it, and have to fight with the machine trying to go back.

She showed him the two fryers one respectively for chicken and fries; they could not be crossed, ever. Fortunately everything had a timer. He had to plate everything he cooked in a really cramped station. The smallness of it was actually kind of beneficial; everything was in arm's reach. But why were there so many different kinds of wings?

Hot wings, buffalo wings, honey bbq, honey mustard, spicy marinara…. Matt had to take the fried wings and shake them around in this bowl filled with whatever sauce the customer wanted smothering their wings. Then he would inadvertently get the sauce on his hands and have to wash his hands and change gloves.

"Why do I have to wash my hands if I've been wearing gloves the entire time?" Matt had asked. "Can't I just change gloves?"

The look Deena had given him had been so severe Matt had just done it. Even though it didn't make since and took up too much time. And he had to do it _often_ because whenever he ran to the freezer for more fries or wings, or dashed off to the pit for more plates, he had to change gloves and wash his hands. And he would always come back to like 3 more orders. Fuck!

After maybe thirty minutes in, Matt was nine orders behind. The job was made difficult because there wasn't a warmer for the chicken like there was for the fries. Matt could only cook them when they appeared on the screen or else he ran the risk of eating food. When he finally managed to catch up and had a second to breathe, Matt peered over his shoulder, checking for Deena, then he ate some fries, dipping them in the honey bbq sauce for his trouble.

A-couple-of-hours quickly turned into half of Matt's shift. He had broken a sweat in the hot station, and was actually starting to move a little more efficiently, thinking maybe it wasn't so bad after all, when Alex showed up. He was a black guy in his mid twenties maybe, average height and stature. Whenever Matt was working he usually saw the guy, but they never really spoke to each other beyond the casual co-worker greeting. Alex bustled into the station, apron on and gloves ready. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, eyes bloodshot with dark bags under them.

"You okay man?" Matt asked, genuinely concerned. Whenever Alex was, whatever he'd been doing it had apparently worn him out. Maybe he should go home and rest it off.

"Yeah... just haven't been getting much sleep lately," he mumbled, all but shuffling into the station. He put on what was obviously a forced smiled. "Thanks for covering for me."

"No problem. Actually wasn't so bad once I got the hang of things."

"Where am I?" he asked peering up at the board.

"Two 8 pieces and the fries have less than a minute." He smiled at the guy's persistence. He was clearly tired but still ready to work. "If Deena asks, I'm on break."

"Oh, yeah… I was supposed to tell you to go. Yup." Then he swiftly reached for plates behind him without even looking. Matt stood by and watched the guy for a second. Even though he was obviously exhausted he was still swift and efficient, working the compact station like he were a one man band. Matt smiled the guy's work ethic and ambled off to clock out.

When Matt stepped out the kitchen door and back onto the restaurant floor he blanched. Why was the place this packed on a Thursday evening? And there were dirty table _everywhere!_ Who had been doing _his_ job? As if she were answering his unspoken question, Deena swooped by with an overladen bus tub, looking as overwhelmed as Matt had in the fryer station.

Honestly, her disheveled appearance startled him. He didn't find his job that difficult. He simply carried the dishes to dishpit; someone else washed them. But then again, Deena had to manage the employees _and_ deal with the occasional unruly customer. It made sense that she was a little behind with an extra duty.

"On break?" she asked, coming back out of the swinging door with a now empty tub.

"Yeah, but I can clock back in and—"

"No, no," she said, kindly waving off the offer. "I got it. I need to—"

"Deena?" one of the bartenders asked, popping up from seemingly nowhere. "Some guy's trying to give me a counterfeit twenty." The girl rolled her eyes exasperated. "I'm _certain_ the bill is fake but he insists on talking to you."

"You sure?" Matt asking, smirking. "I really don't mind."

"No. Take your break. You earned it." And she sat the tub on the end of the bar, strolling off with the bartender.

Fifteen minutes into his break, Alex found him sitting in an empty booth with only a few used plates on it. Though the table was dirty, Matt figured it would be better to eat his burger here, instead of one of the few clean tables that customers could use.

"Hey, man. Thanks again for covering for me," Alex said holding his fist out for a bump. Matt kindly punched it.

"Yeah, man. Honestly, I only did it because Deena asked me to." Matt flushed sheepishly.

"Yeah. Still, I'm grateful."

"How are you out here?" Matt asked puzzled by the sudden thought. "Won't you get behind?"

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, but I'll catch up with no problem."

"Seriously?" Matt asked, a bit impressed. "Cause I got slammed whenever I wound up two orders behind."

"Honestly, you did a much better than Deena expected you to," Alex responded with a lifted brow.

"Seriously?" Matt asked, the surprise seeping into his tone. "She said that?"

"Yeah," Alex assured him with a genuine smile crossing his exhausted face. "You had the station stocked for me and everything. I mean, I had to run and grab some fries but other than that, it was like I'd been there the entire time."

Wow. That compliment actually made Matt smile on the inside. It was nice to receive acknowledgement for a job well done every now and then.

"But I came out here to give you…" Alex popped out of the pocket of his apron, two strips6k Loo tu of red and white paper. "... _these_."

Matt curiously took what was offered to him and quizzically inspected it, his eyes widening when he realised what he was holding.

"Dude, I can't take these," Matt said through an astounded exhale. After his eyes raked over the two Washington Nationals tickets, dated for two weeks from now, he stuck them out for Alex to take them back, but the older man smiled and took a step away from the table as if the tickets were now somehow contaminated.

"No, seriously, keep them," he insisted. "I've been having problems with my daughter lately so I can't go. Take one of your friends. I've been trying to find someone to give them to. Being late today gave me an excuse to give them to you."

"How much did these _cost?_ " Matt asked, still in shock.

"Awe man, if that's what you're worried about then don't worry. They were so cheap. I mean… they're not even really good seats. Honestly, if you don't take them, I'm just gonna give them to someone else." He shrugged.

Matt stared at the valuable pieces of paper in his hand again, his mandible unable to reconnect with his maxilla. He'd never been to a professional game of _any_ kind before. "I don't... I just…" Then he broke into a wide grin. "Thanks man!"

Alex grinned back. "No, dude. Thank _you._ " And with that he turned and strolled back off to the kitchen. Grinning broadly, Matt went to find Deena to request the necessary days off.


	7. Chapter 7

The tickets had come at such an opportune time. But they had also brought a dilemma into his life. He sincerely wanted to take Jeremy but Matt didn't really know what their relationship was anymore. He didn't know how Jer, would respond to a four hour drive alone with him and then a night at a motel in D.C. What if Jeremy thought Matt expected sex out of it? Like, to go _all the way?_

Matt was seriously considering just taking Tyler. He _knew_ Tyler would be cool with a trip like that. He'd been hunting and camping and stuff with Tyler and the mayor. He and his best friend had spent extended amounts of time alone before. They had even slept in a bed together the previous summer when the mayor had taken them on a fishing trip. But Matt also knew that Tyler found baseball just as boring as he did.

If Tyler went, neither of them would enjoy it. Honestly, Tyler would probably talk him into roaming off into the capitol to do something else entirely and the tickets would be wasted. If Jeremy went, Jeremy would enjoy the game, and Matt would enjoy making Jeremy happy. Also if Tyler went, they'd definitely stay at some fancy-shmancy hotel, courtesy of one of the mayor's elite credit cards. But if he took Jeremy, Matt would only be able to afford a roadside motel.

Two days later Matt was sloshing around with Tyler in the Lockwood pool on a lazy Saturday morning, and he still hadn't told anyone about the tickets or decided what to do. Matt was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't too good at hiding his emotions around the people that cared enough to pay attention. Because Vicki had noticed when he'd been questioning his sexuality and now…

"Dude, something's wrong," Tyler said, splashing him in the face with a bit of water. "Tell me what's up."

"What are you talking about?" Matt responded, feigning ignorance, and splashing his friend in return.

"You look like your fucking cat died," Tyler joked, his way of showing concern. "What's wrong?"

Matt looked at his friend for a second. Maybe Tyler would understand. Maybe talking to someone about it is was what he needed. Matt sighed in defeat and climbed out of the pool, grabbing one of the Lockwood's soft, fluffy—probably expensive—towels and drying off while Tyler climbed out behind him.

"One of my coworkers gave me two tickets to a National's game," Matt said, flinging the towel around his neck.

Tyler's frowned. "What are you moping about that for? That's a good thing. When are we going?" He snatched up his own towel.

"That's the thing…" Matt sighed. "I'm not sure if you're the guy I'm taking."

Tyler's eyes widened as he immediately understood. He grinned. "You sly motherfucker. You went and and got yourself a _boyfriend…_ "

Matt flushed under his friend words. "Something like that," he admittedly sheepishly, taking a seat in one of the pool chairs.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked flopping down in the one next to him.

Matt sighed again and spoke ardently. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you okay?

"Dude, stick a needle in my eye," Tyler responded immediately, his face so serious that Matt couldn't fight the grin that broke out on his face.

"I'm serious, Ty," Matt smiled.

"Me _too,_ " Tyler responded, just a sincerely as before. Matt stared into his friend's dark eyes. Honestly, he knew that he could trust Tyler.

"It's Jeremy Gilbert."

Tyler's eyes almost popped out of his head as he sat there with his jaw hanging, letting those words sink in. "I always thought that little shit was queer," he finally chuckled.

"Hey," Matt said defensively. "Don't talk about him like that. I really like him."

"Alright, I'm sorry," Tyler grinned, raising his hands in surrender. "So what's the problem? You like this guy and you know I don't really like baseball. It's fucking boring. Take Jeremy."

"I _would_ … and he actually _likes_ baseball but..." Talking about this was kind of harder than Matt had thought it would be. Tyler and he didn't usually talk about their emotions with each other. Matt didn't want to make the conversation awkward. "I don't really know where we are," he finished lamely.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked, genuinely confused. "You said he was your boyfriend. You're taking him on a date. What's wrong with that?"

"No, I said it was something _like_ that," Matt corrected, which only made Tyler frown harder. Matt sighed for the umpteenth time. "We kind of just admitted how we feel about each other this passed Wednesday. We kissed in my truck." Matt paused sheepishly. He had to force the next sentence out of his mouth. "Then I gave him a blowjob in the school bathroom—" Matt heard the breath catch in his friend's throat. If he thought Tyler's eyes and bugged out of his head _before..._ but Matt pressed on, "—and now I'm not sure if I should take him with me. We're gonna have to spend a night alone in a motel together. I don't want him to feel obligated to have sex with because of it."

"Are you insane?" Tyler asked incredulously. "Of _course_ you should take him. He would feel the need to give you something in return after you gave him something as great as a free National's game. But now, on _top_ of that _,_ you have _leverage!_ This is _definitely_ gonna get you some ass out of it, but you gotta play your cards right. You gotta—"

"Tyler, I'm serious," Matt interrupted sharply. "I want him to have sex with me because he _wants_ to, not because he feels some need to repay me. I _really like_ him."

Tyler stared at Matt for a second, astounded. Then he pressed his lips in that way that he always does. "Alright, even if it's with another dude, sex is still sex. You are _ruining_ a perfect opportunity to get laid and I urge you to make the right decision. But if that's how you _really_ feel, did you ever consider just being honest with the guy?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, as if it were the obvious solution. Two plus two if four, duh... "Tell him 'Hey, I scored two tickets to a Nationals game and I want to take you because I know you like baseball. And if you go, you don't have to let me fuck you because I let you shove your dick down my throat.' " Tyler shrugged. "Simple solution. Even though I think you should pound his ass. Or wait… Or would _he_ fuck _you?_ " Tyler teased.

Matt rolled his eyes and ignored the jibe, turning back towards the pool. When it was put like that—though it was bluntly crude—it really _did_ sound simple.

"I know," Tyler shrugged smugly. "Both of us can't live up to the jock stereotype."

"You're a dick," Matt grinned.

He shrugged again. "Sure am. Come on, let's go change. Then I'm gonna kick your ass at Mortal Kombat."

"We'll see about that," Matt smiled hopping up.

Even though they'd toweled down by the pool, they still left a trail of wet footprints on the stairs and down the hall to Tyler's room. As always, it bothered Matt to leave such a mess behind him in someone else's home, but he didn't comment on it because he knew Tyler would tell him not to worry, that the maid would take care of it.

"So you and Little Gilbert huh? That's so _cute..._ " Tyler said in a mocking tone, making Matt roll his eyes again. Tyler closed the door behind them and strolled over to his dresser. "And it's kinda fucked up," he chuckled, pulling a pair of cargo shorts out of one drawer and a pair of black boxer shorts out of another. "So the whole time you were with Elena, you were thinking about her little brother?"

Matt nodded sheepishly. "Most of it…" Matt looked around Tyler's meticulously clean room, courtesy of their maid. If he was completely honest with himself, he got a little jealous of Lockwood's money sometimes. But he always let it brush his shoulder.

"Yeah, dude, that's fucked up," Tyler chuckled again. Then without any warning, he dropped his swim trunks and kicked them to side, exposing all of his naked glory to the room.

" _Dude_ ," Matt said indignantly, swiftly turning around.

"What?" Tyler said innocently. "It's not like we haven't seen each other nude before." When Matt didn't respond, Tyler walked around to stand in front of him, butt naked and Matt forced himself to keep his eyes on his friend's childishly grinning face.

"I get it," Tyler chuckled. "You thought I would be uncomfortable being nude around you now that I know you're gay." His face switched to a solemn expression and he took a step closer to Matt and placed a hand on his shoulder. Even though Tyler was completely starkers, they were now standing less than two feet apart.

Matt could no longer stop himself from looking down at Tyler demi-god body, muscles everywhere, the product of being the school's most valuable player. Matt immediately recited the multiplication tables in his head. He thought about old, wrinkly granny boobs, a horse taking a shit. But it didn't work; he could feel himself slowly growing stiff. Oh _shit_...

"I need you understand," Tyler said, seriousness in his tone, and Matt tore his eyes away from his best friends thick cock, hanging pretty low even though it was flaccid and looked into his eyes instead. Tyler was trying to be serious, but Matt could see the smile breaking the corner of his lips. "That I am completely okay with your homosexuality." He chuckled at the word homosexual and stepped back from Matt shaking with withheld laughter.

Then he pointed at the tent in Matt's trunks, still grinning. "You failed. I thought you didn't get boners over me, Matt?" He cocked his head to side, that childish grin back in place.

"You were fucking _testing_ me?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Don't avoid the question, Matty..." Tyler raised an amused brow, peering into Matt's blue eyes. "Why's your dick pointing at me right now?"

Matt's eyes reluctantly raked over his friend's naked body again. He looked so masculine with his broad chest, stiff pecs, and thick arms. And those abs. Matt could probably scrub a pair of dirty jeans clean on those things. And that gorgeous cock and balls was practically mouth-watering, hanging low under a thick patch of dark hair.

"Okay!" Matt sighed in defeat. "I lied! You're a sexy guy. We both know that. And you have a nice ass. I'm sorry if I _noticed._ No gay dude in his right mind _wouldn't_ be turned on by you."

Tyler's grin turned into a full blown smile. "You know what? That's a really nice boost to my ego. Not only do all the girls want to fuck me, but so do all the gay guys." Matt's jaw dropped from such a conceited statement. What was worse, Tyler didn't even realize how self centered it was.

Then, to Matt's complete horror, his friend shocked him by proceeding to cruelly tease him further. He turned around, giving Matt a wonderful view of his muscled back and beautiful round ass, his tanned skin flawless—not a blemish in sight. He spoke over his shoulder to Matt.

"This the nice ass you were talking about?" he asked seductively, gently wagging his backside like a dog would wag its tail. He reached both hands back and gripped two good handfuls, squeezing, caressing and fondling it. He smacked the bottom of his cheeks upwards a few times, making the plump cheeks jiggle like bundt jello. It was such a beautiful sight...

Matt gasped in astonishment, frozen in place when Tyler chuckled and parted his ass, bending over a little, showing off his tight little rosebud hole. "Is this that ass? Huh? You wanna slide your dick in there? Do you wanna fuck me Matty? Get deep up in there? You wanna feel this tight ass around your cock?"

Tyler chuckled again and smiled smugly. Matt's arousal was obviously amusing him. To Tyler this was all a big joke. He squeezed his ass cheeks again pulling them further apart, bending over little more, as he let out the most seductive moan Matt had ever heard, that stupid smug grin still on his face. "Mmmmnngnnn… You wanna fuck me, Matty? You wanna make me moan? Make me scream your name while your dick is throbbing inside me? Huh? You wanna fuck this tight, virgin ass?"

Matt couldn't speak. He couldn't tear his eyes away. Was this really happening? He was frozen by the cruel show his _best friend_ was putting on for him. Matt was so achingly hard, so tense.

Tyler spread his cheeks all the way for Matt, arching his back inwards, making his ass stick out. He had his beautiful ass cheeks spread _wide,_ the crevice visible now, that tight little hole taunting Matt. And he was still wearing that _fucking smug smile_. "You wanna fuck me, Matty? You wanna slide your cock up in me, nice and slow? You wanna stretch me open with your dick? Want me to ride it like a fucking stallion? Mmmmnnngnn, Matty… _fuck_.. "

Matt couldn't believe his eyes when Tyler actually _rubbed a finger_ across his hole. "You want to fuck me, Matty?" He rubbed the finger around his hole, kneading it, pressing but never breaching it. He rolled his hips a little harder, speaking through his teeth now. "Want me to stick this finger in there? Wanna watch me fuck myself? Get this ass ready for your thick cock?" Tyler rubbed and pressed at the hole. Matt was certain that if he pressed any harder that finger would slide in...

"Well I'm _not going to!_ " Tyler said abruptly, smiling gleefully, the seduction dropping from his tone like a hefty weight. And just like that, the spell he had on Matt was broken, the tension in the atmosphere suddenly gone. Tyler spun back around and blatantly laughed at Matt, clutching his gut, his long flaccid dick flopping.

"Dude, look at you!" He gestured to Matt, who still there gobsmacked, dick throbbing. "You would've just kept standing there watching me touch myself until you busted in your shorts! You _really wanna fuck me!_ This is _crazy!_ " He smiled even harder, shaking his head and playfully punched Matt in the shoulder as he passed by, going back around him to put pull his boxers and pants on.

"I don't know why I even put up you!" Matt spat furiously. What kind of _friend_ was cruel enough do something like that? Matt should've been _cruel_ in return and shoved his cock up Tyler's ass since he wanted to play fucking games! "You're so fucking full of yourself!"

"I think you want me to be full of _you_ ," Tyler joked, glancing down at Matt's solid dick. He pulled a shirt over his head. "Or do you want me on my knees sucking your thick cock like you sucked Jeremy's? Want me to swallow that dick, Matty? Wanna bust down my throat?"

Matt growled and blushed fiercely, hiding his face behind his hand. "Dude, stop it, or I'm leaving," he practically growled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, man," he sighed, deflating like a punctured balloon, his shoulders slumping. "Look, I'm seriously okay with you being gay. Really, I _am._ " Tyler shrugged. "But I'm not, so there will be no fucking me. It's still flattering that you want to do it though." He smirked. "And I'm sorry for teasing you, but it was the perfect opportunity and I couldn't help myself." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm a dick and I know it. I honestly don't know why you put up with me either, but you do, and I'm grateful. There's some lube and tissues in my nightstand drawer if you want to take care of that. I'll be downstairs when you're done. Lock the door and think about me." Then he winked at Matt and left the blonde boy alone with an erection in his bedroom.

Matt stood there astounded. What the fuck had just happened? Honestly, he shouldn't be so surprised by his friend's reaction. Tyler was a conceited dick, always had been and always would be; Matt knew that. He honestly didn't know how they were best friends. But for some _stupid_ reason they were. If he had to, Matt would lie to the feds for the Tyler and he knew Tyler would do the same for him. And _apparently_ his friend would also sexually tease him.

Once again, Matt recited multiplication tables… grandmas in g-strings, _anything_ to force his erection away. He pretended he hadn't just been given permission to masturbate in his best friend's bedroom. Because he was _not_ going to do that. That was just... _no_. Tyler's _mom_ was out there _and_ the maid. What if they walked in.

Well...Tyler had _said_ lock the door. And Matt's erection just _wasn't_ going anywhere. He couldn't walk around the mansion with a massive one. He sighed and reluctantly closed the bedroom door, pushing the like button to lock it. Then he pulled off his wet trunks—Tyler's trucks—and let his aching dick spring loose, leaving himself naked in the large room.

He couldn't believe he was about to do this in Tyler's room, the room that Tyler himself had undoubtedly masturbated in several times. Then the thought of Tyler's sexy body sprawled out across that huge bed, stroking his fat dick had Matt throbbing even harder. He groaned and made his way over to the nightstand.

The lube was in the drawer next to a box of kleenex, exactly where Tyler had said it would be and Matt squeezed a bit of the jelly into his palm, then sat his bare ass on the edge of his friend's bed, leaning back and spreading his legs, his leaking cock sticking straight up. Matt wanted to _ravish_ Tyler, unlike his desires for Jeremy—who Matt actually _liked_. He actually wanted to _do_ things for Jeremy; he wanted to _please_ him.

With Tyler it was simply pure lust. Matt just wanted to fuck him, like he thought about doing any of his other hot teammates. Images of Tyler's hot body flashed his mind. He wanted Tyler to kneel before him and lick a trail from the base of his cock to the tip. Matt rubbed the lube around his thick dick, imagining it was Tyler's tongue. He wanted Tyler to wrap his lips around it, and then let Matt fuck his mouth.

Matt stroked his dick, smooth and easy, pretending it was his best friend's lips wrapped around him. He thrust himself up into his hand.

"Oh, fuck, Ty…"

Then Matt would pull Tyler up and he turn him around. He'd slip a lubed finger in Tyler's virgin hole, making raven haired teen moan and rock himself on the finger, until Matt slipped a second finger in, scissoring them to get Tyler ready for something bigger.

He closed his eyes and let his mind run away with the fantasy. He was so fucking hard...

"You ready for this thick cock?" he asked the empty room, while he squeezed Tyler's perfect ass in his mind.

"Yes," the imaginary Tyler answered. Matt stroked his dick faster.

"You want it?"

"Yes, _please_. Put it in me," the imaginary Tyler said through his teeth. In his mind, Matt slipped his fingers out and pulled the imaginary Tyler back until his fat cock pressed against the firm little hole. Then Matt gripped his friend's hips and slowly pressed in, forcing the tight sphincter to open up and make way.

Matt pumped his dick hard now, his balls getting tight.

"Oh my God," the imaginary Tyler gasped. In his mind, Matt slowly pulled his best friend down on his dick, stretching that tight hole open, until Tyler was sitting in Matt's lap, sitting on his dick.

" _Fuck_ , Ty, you're so _tight…_ " Matt moaned to the empty room, pumping his throbbing cock. Matt's precum was practically pouring out of him. He lifted the imaginary Tyler up a few times and dropped him back down and Matt was done.

He hopped up and turned around, holding back a scream as his thick load burst free. It spilled out of him in thick ropes, splattering across Tyler's comforter. Matt stroked himself hard, fist tight, pulling the last bits out. Then, breathing like he'd just run a marathon, he stared down at his mess on the bed spitefully.

 _Explain_ that _to the fucking maid, bitch,_ he thought.

Then, taking a final deep breath, Matt reached into the nightstand drawer and cleaned himself up with a couple of kleenexes. He flushed them down the toilet in Tyler's personal bathroom—the jealousy flared and he brushed it off again—then he put on his shorts and t-shirt from where he'd left them in the bathroom floor.

Matt vigorously attempted to pull himself together as he left out the bedroom door. He was a little ashamed about what he'd done, even though it _had_ to be done. He could now add to the list of places he masturbated: his bathroom, the school's bathroom, the Gilberts' bathroom, his bedroom, and now, his best friend's bedroom. Matt figured that, despite his best efforts, his face must have been an open book because as he descended the stairs Tyler's jaw dropped.

"Dude?" he whispered from the sofa, game controller at hand, looking at Matt with astounded eyes, a grin on the corner of his mouth. "I thought you were up there giving it time to go away. You _really_ fucking rubbed one out in my room?"

Matt sighed and snatched up the other game controller, refusing to answer. Tyler accepted the silence as the acknowledgement it obviously was and burst into tear jerking laughter, as Matt flopped down on the couch next to him.

"What?" Matt spat in defense, peering around the open living area to ensure no one was listening. "I couldn't parade around your house with a stiff one, could I?"

Tyler shook his head still grinning. " _Wow_ … you _really_ got that hard over me. That's fucking crazy…" He turned back to screen and unpaused the game, leaving Matt to stare at the side of his smug head. "I knew I was hot but _damn…._ "

"I'm never gonna get a moment of peace am I?" Matt deadpanned.

"Nope," Tyler chuckled in response, without taking his eyes away from their huge television. His thumbs worked fiercely on the controller. "I'm gonna tease you every chance I get," he shamelessly admitted. "Maybe it'll wear off eventually but right now this is _too_ fucking hilarious."

Matt huffed. Seriously... _how_ could he call this guy his best friend? "Well I'm about to kick your ass in this game. How 'bout that?" Matt spat bitterly.

"I bet you'd like to touch my ass, wouldn't you?" Tyler said alluringly.

Fine. If Tyler had jokes, so did Matt. "You know…. I don't want to sexually attack my best friend or anything like that," Matt said, just as alluringly as Tyler had, "but if you keep it up, I don't know if I can continue to restrain myself. I just might _snap…_ "

Tyler paused the game again, turning to look at him with wide astonished eyes, a grin breaching the corner of his lips again. "And do _what? Take_ it from me?" he chuckled dubiously, scoffing. "You could _try._ "

"I don't know…" Matt smirked smugly. He overzealously shrugged. "I _am_ a larger guy than you. And we both know I'm stronger. It'll be _easy_ to take what I want, make you _scream._ I could fold your ass up like a fucking pretzel and just…" Matt bit his lip lewdly, intentionally leaving the end of the statement open for Tyler make whatever he would of it.

But Tyler simply scoffed even harder. "So now you think you're _stronger_ than me?" He laughed sarcastically, waving his hand as if that were an absurdity. He spoke with the same smugness as always. "The only person on the team stronger than me is the quarterback. And he's graduating this year. I'm clearly the next in line. I'm _better_ than you, Matty. If anything, _I_ could take _your_ ass."

"It's good that you think that," Matt said sarcastically. Of course he did. He was _Tyler._

"Well then… I guess I'll just have to keep pushing until you _snap_." He turned back to the television and unpaused the game smirking. "So we can prove who's bigger and better."

Matt shrugged. "I guess we'll see." He turned to the television as well. On the the outside he was smug and determined. But on the inside he was quivering with fear. What had he just gotten himself into?


	8. Chapter 8

Matt was lying in bed finishing up his paper on his phone later that afternoon. He had maybe 300 words left when a series of angry emojis popped up from Tyler. Matt smirked. So he'd found it? Matt typed a quick, snappy response.

 _u deserved it_

 _I had to sneak and wash_

 _my sheets myself!_

 _I have NEVER done my_

 _own fucking laundry! I_

 _had to figure out how to_

 _use the machine!_

Matt laughed. He couldn't help himself.

 _there's a first time for everything._

 _welcome to the life of us mere_

 _peasants your royal highness_ :)

Matt smiled at his own witt, amused because of _course_ Tyler wouldn't know how to use a washing machine. He'd never done his own laundry before; why would he ever?

 _Hey :)_

The message popped up on top of the chat between him and Tyler. Matt frowned at the unfamiliar number. It was local but—

 _Oh hardy fucking har har_

 _I'm not gonna hold it against_

 _you because maybe I really_

 _DID deserve it but I'm not_

 _gonna let you get away with_

 _it either. I've got a 'gift' for_

 _you too_

Well, if _that_ didn't sound ominous… But Matt focused his attention on the other text.

 _wassup? who is this?_

 _Right. U don't have my_

 _number. It's Jeremy. I_

 _swiped your number from_

 _Elena's phone when she_

 _wasn't looking lol :)_

Matt sat up a little in his bed. Jeremy had searched out his number? That was actually kind of sweet. Hey typed a quick response.

 _hey :) wyd?_

 _nothing really, just_

 _lying in bed_

 _i'm glad u found_

 _my number. it's_

 _nice to talk to u :)_

 _Really? Because we_

 _haven't spoken since…_

 _u know… honestly it_

 _made me a little nervous_

What? Matt blanched. No, he'd never meant for Jeremy to feel that way. Suddenly he wanted to see Jeremy's face. He wanted to see the younger boy's expressions and he wanted Jeremy to see his. Acting on the impulse, Matt tapped the video call button. It rang for a second or two then—

"Hello?" And there was Jeremy's gorgeous face on Matt's phone, Jeremy's messy head on his pillow.

"Hey, Jer." Matt smiled fondly. "Can you see me?" He flicked on his bedside light.

"Yeah, I can see you."

"Dude, I'm _so_ sorry if I made you feel that way," Matt said, his sincerity lacing his tone. "I was working all day yesterday and—"

"It's okay, dude," Jeremy kindly interrupted. "You don't have to explain yourself. I just… I don't know… I guess I really like you." He blushed sheepishly. " _A lot..._ "

And this is why Matt had wanted to see Jeremy's expressions. Because right now the boy looked confused and vulnerable. Matt wouldn't have obtained that information through texting.

"I have a surprise for you," he said cheerfully, wanting to lift the boy's spirits. He was going to save it until he had Jeremy in person, but the current moment seemed like a good time.

"Yeah?" Jeremy raised a curious brow.

"Yeah," Matt smiled. "Give me a second." He rolled over in the bed, digging the tickets out of his wallet and held them up to camera. "Can you see it?"

"No… Not—not really. Your camera won't focus. Maybe if you switch to the bac— _wait_ … wait are those…? Are those Nationals tickets?!"

Matt pulled the tickets away from the screen to reveal Jeremy's exuberant face. "Yup! And I'm taking you." Matt smiled at phone.

"Oh my God, when?" Jeremy asked, practically bouncing out of his skin with excitement.

"Friday after next," Matt beamed, excited to see Jeremy excited.

"Wow… dude… Where did you even _get—_ it doesn't matter—Jenna!" Then the camera wasn't on Jeremy's face anymore. There was a constant rustling sound as the wall, the bed, Jeremy's leg… Things changed so quickly, Matt barely caught a glimpse of what they were. It was a small moment he understood that Jeremy was relocating himself.

"Jenna! Jen—oh _shit_ …" Matt sat on his bed, staring at his phone quizzically, as there were several thumping sounds then an abruptly black screen.

"Jer?" Matt asked. "This definitely would've been better in person," Matt chuckled to his empty room. Then bare feet, staircase, wall… and there was Jeremy's face again.

"Sorry, dude, dropped my phone." He kept the camera on his face this time as he hastily continued down the stairs. "Jenna!"

"What?" Matt heard Jenna's voice. Personally, Matt thought she sounded a bit alarmed, but apparently Jeremy didn't perceive it that way.

"Can I go to a Nationals game with Matt?" he asked, still holding his phone up to his now hopeful and expectant face, looking in the direction of Jenna's voice. There was a small moment of silence and—

"What?" Jenna said bewildered. Jeremy's expression wilted a little. "From the way you were screaming I thought there was a fire or something!"

"Oh… well… I'm sorry," Jeremy stammered. "I didn't mean to alarm you... But can I go?"

There was another small silence, but slightly longer this time. "You're going alone?" was the sentence Jenna spoke to break it. Honestly, the negative undertones in it startled Matt. Apparently Jeremy was paying more attention this time.

"Yes…" he answered cautiously, looking like a small child being dropped off at preschool by his parents for the first time.

"That's almost a four hour drive, Jer… And you two would be all alone…" She paused again. "I'll think about it."

"W—what? Why can't you just say yes?" Jeremy responded petulantly. He was looking more and more like that little kid. His parents were getting back in their car and driving away now.

"I said I would think about it," she said consolingly.

"I'm old enough to know that 'I'll think about it' usually turns into 'no'." Jeremy turned his attention to the phone. "Matt, I'll text you later."

"Okay… yeah." A part of Matt wanted to get of the line anyway. "Later." Matt ended the call, letting the phone relax in his hand. He hadn't considered that Jenna wouldn't let Jeremy go. That was actually kind of depressing. He might be taking Tyler after all.

A little flashing blue light on his phone, was the notifier that Matt had a text. Peering at the screen he saw that he'd received a picture message and a text from Tyler several minutes ago. He tapped his phone curiously, opening the photo first and almost dropped the device... His jaw fell slack, eyes the size of quarters.

It wasn't a photo. It was a 10 second video of Tyler masturbating. It was crystal clear; Matt could see the veins in the back of his friend's hand. Tyler had evidently recorded it at an angle, with his phone at arm's distance, so Matt could get a good view of everything. Tyler's naked body, from the bottom of his pecs down to his feet, was in the video.

Tyler gave long, slow strokes on his shiny, lubed up dick going from base to tip, base to tip. And it was quite a distance to travel. Matt could hear him moaning behind the phone. He stroked so slowly that he only got in 4 good ones, his hand tight on his dick, until around 6 seconds in….

Tyler's legs twitched and spasmed, his rock hard abs contracting, and his thick load came bursting from his dick, hard and heavy, rolling down the fat appendage as Tyler pumped it, milking himself, moaning and cursing heavily behind the phone. Then, before Matt could see Tyler tug the rest of it out, the video ended.

 _something for you to beat off to_


	9. Chapter 9

When Matt woke the next morning, Vicki was already gone. He'd put on the same shorts he'd had on the day before, because he didn't plan on going anywhere. He was gonna finish the last 300 words of that paper and relax with some Netflix or something. He went and fumbled around in the kitchen before realizing that he still needed to go grocery shopping and he simply wound up warming a pot of coffee Vicki had left behind.

Honestly the only reminder Matt had that their mother was longer there were the few bills they'd received in her name. That's pretty much the only thing she'd ever done around there, and probably for her own benefit. She'd never cleaned anything. Matt had. She'd never cooked anything. It was always takeout—whenever she remember that her children had to eat too—or TV dinners. She had never gone grocery shopping. Matt had. Though—kudos to her—she _had_ given him a few bucks for it sometimes. Matt had mowed the lawn, washed the dishes, took out the garbage, did the dusting…. He guessed it only made sense for the bills to be thrusted upon him as well.

He was pulling the cup up to his lips, when there was a firm wrap on the front door startling him so, he spilled a drop of the hot coffee on his bare chest. Matt hissed, but fortunately didn't spill anymore. Who the fuck…? It was like nine in morning. After grabbing the dish towel and dabbing his chest, he stalked across the living room, cup in hand, and found—

"Hey, dude," Tyler said cheerfully. Matt simply stared at him sardonically, then turned, walking back towards the couch and leaving the door open for him to enter.

"Well, good morning to you too you piece of shit," he said flippantly, stepping inside and closing the door.

"What do you want?" Matt asked, failing not to chuckle.

"I didn't know I needed an excuse to come and see my best friend, but I came prepared with one anyway. You didn't answer my text last night," Tyler said, emitting intentionally faux concern. "I thought something bad had happened to you. I had to come and see if you were okay."

"Whatever," Matt chuckled. "You want some coffee?" he asked, taking a careful sip from his hot mug.

"Sure," Tyler said flopping down on their sofa, looking at Matt expectantly. Matt, however, gently sat down next to him, careful with his cup.

"It's in the kitchen on the counter," he said, grinning. "Cups in the cabinet, sugar up under, creamer in the fridge." He took another careful sip with Tyler staring at him, his shock turning into a grin.

"Are you serious?"

"What?" Matt said innocently. "You stopped being a guest around here when we were like six."

"Well yeah… but I don't make you go get _your_ own beverages," Tyler complained facetiously, pulling himself up from the sofa.

"No. You get the maid to do it," Matt pointed out.

"And when you don't _have_ a maid, you _become_ the maid if someone comes over. It's called 'good hospitality'," Tyler bantered, strolling into the kitchen.

As he walked off, Matt noticed his form fitting clothes. A t-shirt that defined his muscled torso and skinny jean cutoffs that looked a size too small. They cupped his perfect ass, leaving little to the imagination. The phone sticking out of one back pocket and the wallet in the other made his round backside look even _bigger._ Tyler had never dressed that way before… He had said he was gonna push and boy was he pushing _hard. Fuck_ if he wasn't hot in those clothes...

But Matt wouldn't _admit_ it. He rolled his eyes, noncommittally. "Is this a tactic you're using to push me to a snapping point?" He gestured to Tyler's promiscuous outfit.

"Yup," he admitted, unashamed. "So. How did you like my video?" he snickered, shuffling around in the kitchen.

Matt glared at him. "I could forward that to someone, or post it all over the internet."

"Yeah you _could_ ," Tyler agreed casually. Then he grinned mischievously. "But I know you won't." He pulled his cup up to his smirking lips. "How many times did you jack off?"

Matt turned his head impassively. "I didn't."

"I can tell that you're _lying_ ," he grinned.

Matt _was_ lying. He didn't know what had tipped Tyler off, but he refused to admit it. He had rubbed a hard one out to that short video, replaying it over and over until he'd burst in his palm.

"I sent you those specific ten seconds on purpose." Tyler winked at him and held out his phone I'm an offering gesture. "Wanna see the other fifteen minutes?"

Matt was saved from responding— _fuck_ if he didn't want to see the rest of that video—when his own phone vibrated in his pocket. He dug it out and smiled warmly at the new contact.

"Hey, Jer," Matt answered cheerfully.

"It's me, Matt," Jenna deadpanned.

"Hi, Jenna," Matt chuckled. " _Still_ haven't gotten a new phone yet, I see."

"I'm going to get one this evening, thank you. I'm tired of borrowing people's phones," she responded. But her next words snatched the friendly banter out of the call, swiftly replacing it with tension. "But I called to talk about you and Jeremy."

"Oh… Ummm… Okay…" he said warily. What did she mean 'talk about him and Jeremy'? Matt pulled the phone away from his ear for a second because things sounded like they were about to get serious. "Just give me a second," he told Tyler rising from the sofa, putting the phone back to his ear, to where Jenna was already talking again. Tyler smiled devilishly and nodded, mixing more sugar into his coffee.

"...how this conversation ends, if you agree to take my car instead of your truck—because I honestly don't think it'll make the trip—I'll let Jeremy go with you to the game."

Matt let the insult to his car brush off his shoulder because honestly I was probably true. "Okay…" he said, still nervous about where this was going. He dropped the half empty mug off on the bar and swiftly set off down the hall, ignoring the curious—nosey—look Tyler gave him.

"I also want you to take one of my credit cards—"

"Jenna I can't—"

"—and you will use it in case of an emergency," she continued on, raising her voice slightly in tone of finality.

"Okay," Matt sighed in agreement, closing himself up in his room. It was just credit card that he wouldn't even have to use.

"Good. Now… has Jeremy started returning your affections?"

Matt blanched. "What…?"

"I know you're in love with him, Matt," Jenna deadpanned. "I figured it out at Miranda and Grayson's funeral. The way you held held him against you so protectively, it's the only explanation. Don't worry, I'm sure no one else noticed. I'm just a very perceptive woman. Now, let's be transparent with each other. Has Jeremy begun to return your affections?"

"Umm…" She'd asked him a direct question. Matt didn't want to flat out _lie._ "We kissed at the batting cage Wednesday?" He hadn't intended for it to come out as a question but it had. Even so, it was evidently enough confirmation for Jenna.

"Mmkay," she said, her tone placid, as if her nephew kissing an older boy was no big deal. "After we're done talking, I'll admit to him that I forcibly obtained that information, so he won't be upset with you about it, even though I know he's outside my bedroom door right now, probably with his ear pressed to it, because I can see his shadow under the crack at the bottom."

"I love you, Jenna..." Matt heard him cry out, making the woman chuckle. If Matt wasn't so tense, he probably would've laughed too.

"Mmkay, Matty. Let's wrap this up so I can give him his phone back, and I hope he dies of embarrassment after hearing this, because that's what's he gets for eavesdropping." She raised her tone towards the end, a sarcastically cheerful lilt in it, then paused, clearly waiting for a response from Jeremy. After a few seconds, when she didn't receive one, she pressed on.

"I honestly have no concern about Jeremy's safety, because I trust you. _Here's_ what's bothering me. Because it's a 4 hours drive from here to D.C., then at _least_ a 3 hour baseball game, I know that you two will have to get a room for a night and are therefore going to have sex."

Matt's breath caught in his chest. This what's quickly becoming the most uncomfortable conversation he had ever had. "Jenna," he stammered. "I—I _swear_ to you. I have _no intentions_ of sleeping with Jeremy. I just—I just want to let him a enjoy a baseball game. That's all."

Her voice came out like honey. "Matty… Sweet, sweet, young, and _adorably_ naive Matty..." She paused for a second as if she were considering her words. "I believe you. Really, I _do_ , and I appreciate your virtuous intentions, but I need you to be honest with yourself. Two hormonal teenage boys, still discovering their previously latent feelings for each other, are going to be alone in a hotel room for an entire night. Enough said.

"Because of that, a part of me doesn't want him to go, because I don't want him having sex. He's only fifteen—"

"I'll be sixteen in a few months..." Jeremy's hopeful voice cried out. Jenna ignored him, continuing on as if he hadn't said anything.

"—and that's still too young for me. But I also know that he's gonna eventually do it anyway, and if I stop him from going to the game, that's gonna make _me_ the bad guy. I don't wanna be that person." She sighed into the phone, almost as if it pained her to say the next words. "So I'm going to let him go with you, but I want you use my card to get a room at a hotel maybe the Doubletree or something. Because if you're going to deflower my nephew, I don't want it to happen at some dive motel beside a freeway somewhere."

If Matt was being honest with himself, from the relatively despondent tone of Jenna's voice, that last statement kind of sounded a little personal… but he didn't comment on it. He simply responded with a small, stammering, "Okay..." so that she would know he was still there, that she hadn't lost him.

Then the line was quiet for a second. Long enough that Matt thought maybe _he_ had lost _her._ But just before he could ask if she was still on the line, she whispered into his ear, evidently so Jeremy couldn't hear. Her voice was soft, yet still ardent and filled with concern. It even cracked a little towards the end.

"You're a large guy, Matt… and he's still small. Don't hurt him."

 _That_ _definitely_ sounded personal. It made Matt wonder who had done those things to Jenna. But once again, Matt didn't comment on it. He simply responded, "Okay…" his voice just as small as before.

"Alright. I'm gonna go give Jer his phone back," she said a little more cheerfully. "And _yes_ we're probably about to talk about you."

"Alright, Jenna," Matt chuckled, though still slightly perturbed. "Talk to you later."

"Bye, Matty."

When Matt opened his bedroom door, Tyler promptly fell inside, tumbling to the floor with a crash, having clearly been leaning into the door listening in. Matt jumped back startled, then peered down at him annoyed. "Dude! You're nosey as fuck!"

"Well, I didn't get much from your end of the conversation anyway," he said, as if that somehow excused his intrusive behavior. He pulled himself up from the floor, dusting himself off. "Except that you're a little _bitch._ Okay… okay…" he mocked in a nasally tone, hyperbolizing Matt's compliant tone with Jenna. "And now I know that _she_ knows you want to fuck her nephew."

"Dude, fuck you," Matt grumbled, pushing pass Tyler to go back up the hall, catching a whiff of his Armani cologne. _Boy_ was he pushing hard.

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Tyler said, falling into step beside Matt and lightly slapping his ass, giving it a swift grip. Matt startled at the light sting on his backside, but didn't let it break his stride. He simply simply glared at Tyler furiously as they continued up the hall. Honestly though, couldn't even be angry properly. He had set himself up for that one.

"So?" Tyler said expectantly, scooping up his coffee mug.

"So _what_?"

"So what was that _about?_ "

"Why would I tell you that? If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have left the room." Matt pointed out.

"Come _on_ Matty. It's _me._ How else am I supposed to give you advice?" He asked, smiling innocently, taking another sip of coffee.

"I didn't _ask_ for your advice."

"Yeah, but you _need_ it, just like I'll always need your advice." Tyler shrugged, looking as if it was common sense. "I'm that little devil on your shoulder and you're my little angel. We balance each other. Without me, you would never do what you _really_ wanted to do. And without _you, I_ would always wind up doing the wrong things."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "Was that supposed to be some kind of compliment?"

"Nope," Tyler shrugged. "Just the simple truth. Now _spill_ it." Matt sighed, and reiterated the conversation. He knew Tyler wouldn't let it go until he got what he wanted anyway.

"So," Tyler said dubiously when Matt had finished. "Jeremy overheard Jenna pretty much giving you _permission_ to fuck him? And you're _still_ not gonna do it." He shook his head at Matt in disbelief. "Some ass is being laid out perfectly for you. How often does that happen? It's an open door. All you have to do is _walk through_ it."

Matt huffed, leaning into the kitchen counter and covered his face in frustration. A part of him wish that Alex had just never given him the tickets. Or Matt shouldn't've have accepted them. He should've _insisted_ Alex keep them because this was a mess. Now that Jeremy had overheard that conversation, it would only make him feel even _more_ obligated to put out. Though a small part of Matt _did_ want to listen to his little Tyler Shoulder Devil and just _go_ with how things were being dealt out, the majority of Matt didn't want his and Jeremy first time to be that way.

"You know what? I'm gonna leave off of that one," Tyler said resolutely, delicately setting his mug down. "Because you need some time alone to think about your decisions." He scoffed. "And you think you don't need my advice," he mumbled, making his way to the front door.

Once again, Matt couldn't stop himself from watching Tyler's backside as he walked away. Matt tried not to look. He had more pressing issues at hand. But—was it just Matt or was Tyler swaying his hips slightly harder than normal on purpose? Maybe Matt had never noticed it because Tyler's clothes had never been so restricting.

Tyler was reaching for the doorknob when he spoke again. "Text me when you—"

Matt's wide eyes snapped back up to his friend's face. But Tyler had already paused, having obviously caught Matt, redhanded.

"Were you just watching my ass?" Tyler asked airily, grinning broadly. Matt couldn't fight his blush. There was no denying it. Tyler let his hand fall back and reached around to grope his ass instead.

"You lookin at my ass again, Matty?" He gave it another firm squeeze, just like he had the previous morning. "You like it in these tight shorts?"

Matt stood in the kitchen, frozen again. Oh fuck…

Tyler practically strutted back over to stand next to Matt. "You like my outfit, don't you Matty?" He gazed into Matt's eyes. "Wanna take it off of me?" He stepped closer, that stupid smug grin back on his face. Matt gulped, flicking his eyes down. He completely failed to not stare down at Tyler's body, forced into those shorts. _Fuck…_

"Hmmm…" Tyler mumbled, tapping his chin as if he were making the world's toughest decision. "How about I let you touch it?"

"Tyler _stop_ it you fucking dick…" but Matt's voice was strained, even his own ears could hear that he didn't want Tyler to stop. He could feel himself stiffening in his shorts.

Tyler chuckled in response, still grinning evilly. He removed his phone and his wallet, placing them on the counter. "Don't want anything in the _way…_ " he said coyly.

Then, he slowly but deliberately reached out and firmly grabbed Matt's hand, bringing it around, until he gently placed the hand on his ass, a soft but firm contact.

"This too much for you, Matty?" he asked, smirking at Matt. "Your hand is touching the ass you wanna fuck." He pressed Matt's palm into his ass more firmly as he slowly, so achingly slowly, ran his other hand down Matt's bare chest, leaning in to whisper into his ear.

Matt was aching by now, his cock pressing painfully against the inside of his zipper. Fuck…His best friend's ass was in his hand. Oh fuck…

"What if I let you _do_ it? What if I let you take these clothes off and rub your hands all over my naked body? Would you snap? Would you bend me over this counter and fucking take it?"

Matt could feel his dick leaking. He could imagine himself doing it. He could see himself in his mind, pulling that body clenching shirt over his friend's head and swallowing Tyler's muscled body with eyes, running his hand all over it. He could see him sliding those shorts off Tyler and bending him over the kitchen counter. Matt would fuck him with his fingers, getting him ready. He could imagine himself pressing his thick dick into his best friend's tight little hole.

"Squeeze it, Matt," Tyler whispered, his lips practically touching Matt's ear, as that other hand continued, making its way down Matt's stomach now. "Go ahead," he said, as if daring Matt to do it. That other hand was still going down, down—Matt looked at the hand with shocked eyes. If Tyler didn't stop he would—he… he wouldn't...

He _would._ Matt gasped as Tyler cupped that hand around his covered groin, groping him. Tyler pulled back from Matt's ear to look into his eyes again. "You like that Matty? Huh? You like my hand prodding against your dick?" He rubbed his hand down Matt's hard shaft through his shorts. A small grunt of pleasure escaped Matt and his hand flexed on its own, making him squeeze Tyler's taut backside. His other hand clawed at the kitchen counter, vainly attempting purchase on the smooth surface.

" _Yeah… Squeeze_ that ass..." Tyler growled. "Just like that, Matty. You gonna snap?" Tyler rubbed a little harder. "Come on, Matty… Show me who's bigger and better..." he said in a singsong. When he still didn't get the reaction he wanted, he released Matt dick, extracting an embarrassing whimper from his friend. Still smirking smugly, he let Matt's hand fall from his ass where it swung limply back at the blonde boy's side.

"Fine, Matty," Tyler said cockily. "You did this to yourself." Matt stared stunned as Tyler unfastened those tight shorts, doing it sporadic little increments, making a show of it. First his belt, then the buckle, unpop the button, slowly slide the zipper down... "I'm _going_ to make you pop Matty," he said confidently, sticking his thumbs under the hips of his waistband. "I'm gonna keep going and going like the energizer fucking bunny, until you _snap_ …" He smiled lasciviously, slowly pushing the shorts down, revealing first that dark patch of hair, then inch by inch of that long flaccid dick.

Matt watched, his breaths laboured until Tyler grabbed his hand again and manipulated it onto his bare ass. "How's that, Matty? You like the feel of my ass?" He held it there again and rutted himself back into it, reaching down to rub against Matt dick more, rougher this time, more forceful. "You like that Matty? You gonna snap? You gonna take it from me? How about this?" He maneuvered Matt's hand until it slid between warm plump cheeks and—oh God!

Matt's fingers were touching Tyler's hole!

"You like that Matty? You like your fingers on my hole? You want to stick them inside me? Huh? What if let you fuck me with your fingers Matty?" Tyler was commanding Matt's hand with his own, pushing Matt's fingers around. "What if I let you fuck me with them and get me ready for your big dick? You could bend me over this counter Matty and fuck me crazy." Tyler continued to push Matt's fingers around until— _fuck!_ Tyler wouldn't… If he kept pressing Matt's finger against his hole like that it would go inside…. And Tyler wouldn't… That was taking things too far. But Matt didn't get the chance to find out.

Because he was coming. Hard. The hole under his finger, the cheeks around his hand, the friction on his dick, Tyler's cologne, his insidiously seductive words…. it was all too much. Matt trembled as his orgasm gripped him; he spilled into his shorts. Tyler froze when he realised what was happening. He simply stood there as stiff as the statue of Adonis, one hand still on Matt's crotch, and the other still holding Matt's hand in place.

He stared down at the small wet spot forming in Matt's short's as if he pissed himself a little, watching Matt spend himself. After what felt like forever, but was actually maybe six seconds, Tyler abruptly thawed.

"Well _fuck…_ " he said releasing Matt, and taking a step back, all pretense of seduction vanishing. Both of their arms flopped to their sides. "I guess I pushed a little _too_ hard," he chuckled. He pulled his shorts up, rearranging them. "Next time, I'm gonna push _just_ enough to give you blue balls… then you'll _have_ to snap."

And with that, he grabbed his phone and his wallet, then turned and strolled away, leaving Matt standing there utterly debauched. And what did Matt do? He cleaned himself up and went to the grocery store. He wouldn't let it bother him, because if Matt had anything to say about it, there would _be_ no next time.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the last week of school, Matt consciously avoided Tyler. If they were in class together, sitting at the lunch table, or in front of a crowd of people in general, they were the best friends they'd been since kindergarten. They joked and bantered, laughed and horse played like always. But if the numbers in the room dwindled, if ever there was the opportunity for Tyler to get Matt alone, Matt would hastily make his exit. He and Tyler were eating lunch together on the last Friday of school and Matt was preparing for one of those hasty exits when a strong hand slapped onto his shoulder.

Matt smiled up at the quarterback of his team. Well, the _old_ quarterback, one of the teammates he'd thought about fucking more than once. Matt squeezed his thighs together on his dick. _Stupid_ teenage hormones.

"Hey, Jensen," he said, fondly. "I hear you got a scholarship to UMD?"

"Yeah," the burly guy answered, smiling in return. "Full ride. I'm totally stoked, dude, but I just stopped by to say that Coach wants to see you in his office."

Matt blanched. "What…" He peered over at Tyler who was watching with wide eyes. "He wants to see _me?_ "

"Yeah," Jensen shrugged. "What did you _do?_ "

"I don't know…" Matt racked his brain for some infraction that could've landed him in trouble with his coach and he couldn't find anything. "Nothing…"

"Well… he just told me to send you to him. Good luck, dude. I'll see you around." And with that he walked away.

"Ummm..." Matt stammered dumbly. What the fuck? It was common knowledge that if a player was called to Coach Tanner's office it meant said player was being suspended from the team. No one ever saw the inside of that office otherwise.

"Dude, what did you _do?_ " Tyler pressed.

"I don't know!" Matt repeated.

"Oh… I thought you were just saying that because you didn't want Jensen in your business."

"No, I _really don't know…_ " Matt continued to vainly search his brain.

"Well… There's no point in making him angry. You should go get it over with," Tyler suggested. "At least it's the end of the year. Maybe you'll only get barred from a couple of next year's games."

"Yeah…" Matt responded, climbing up from the table as they watched someone else walk up to congratulate Jensen's retreating form. "I'll see you later, Ty."

"Yeah," Tyler responded, looking just as confused as Matt felt and he watched his friend turn and trudge away.

Matt found it interesting that when you're anticipating something it takes forever to come. Like the two days he'd waited for the batting cage date. They'd felt like two weeks. And the two weeks her was waiting for the D.C. trip felt like two _months_ already. But since he was dreading the meeting with Coach Tanner, it like he knocking in the office door in no time at all. The lunch room was in the other side of the school. Where had that walk gone? How did Matt get over there so fast?

"Come in," Coach Tanner called out from the other side of the door. Matt cracked it and peeped his head in.

"You wanted to see me, Coach?"

"Donovan," he said cheerfully, turning away from his computer. "Take a seat." He gestured to one of the shabby chairs in front of his desk. Matt stepped into the cramped office, taking a timid seat in the shabby chair.

"You can relax, Donovan," Coach Tanner said, chuckling at Matt's tense posture. "This is a good call."

"Yeah?" Matt said dubiously, his shoulders slumping a little. "It's just that, the only time anyone sees the inside of this office is when they're getting suspended." Matt chuckled nervously.

Coach Tanner laughed again. "So goes the reputation of this room. But _honestly_ , I called you in here for a good thing. I'll get straight to the point to put you at ease." Coach Tanner folded his fingers together and leaned into his desk. "You're a hell of a good ball player Matt. I've seen more clout out you in the year you've been on the team than I have of any of the seniors who've been on it for three years.

"I called you in here, because Jensen is graduating this year." Coach Tanner paused and gazed into Matt's eyes intensely. "I'm giving you his position, Donovan."

Matt sat there in dumbstruck silence. Had heard properly? Did Coach just say that he was the new quarterback? Matt was in awe. He didn't know what say. This could be go for him. He could get noticed by scouters and finally be able to get out of Mystic Falls.

"Well?" Coach Tanner pressed. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

Matt's jaw opened, but only a sharp croaking sound escaped him. He flushed slightly, embarrassed and cleared his throat, then stammered his response. "Honestly I… I thought you would give the position to Tyler…"

"Lockwood?" Coach Tanner scoffed. "He's a brilliant player. I'll give him that. And the team definitely won't be the same when he graduates. But he's also a hothead. I don't need someone like that leading my team. I need someone like _you._ Honestly, if Lockwood didn't have _you_ as a best friend, his father would've been getting him out of _much_ more tight spaces than he already has." Coach Tanner's expression grew more stern. "I'm telling you this now, because I don't want you slacking off over the summer. You have a strong arm, but I want it _stronger_. I want you to come back from break and show me at least a fifty yard pass. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir, coach." Matt barked, as expected.

"Alright then. _Yes,_ you can run off and tell people because I know want to. Now get out of here," he dismissed him, gesturing toward the door. "I'll see you next year."

Matt scrambled awkwardly from the office. Wow… He was the new starting quarterback… Those two enticing words—Starting. Quarterback—sank in as he left what was probably the most important meeting of his young life. He broke out into a wide grin. He was the new starting quarterback! A part of him wanted to jump up and down like a girl at a sleepover.

He had to go out celebrate! No… even better… He would pull together another bonfire, for the following night, an entire party in his honor. A situation like this _demand_ it. Matt smiled at the prospect of it all. _Everybody_ was gonna get fucked up! He whipped it his phone to text Jeremy.

 _dude guess what?!_

 _i'm the new_

 _quarterback!_

Matt added two of the flexing emojis at the end for sheer cheek and he had just tapped the send button when hard hands abruptly grabbed him and he was snatched to the side and suddenly pulled through a door, his body moving first with his head snapping behind afterwards, leaving him with a sharp pang in his neck. Before Matt could properly discern what was happening, his back was roughly shoved into lockers, his phone slipping from his hand, and he found himself staring into the sardonic face of his little shoulder devil.

"Hey, Matty," Tyler sneered. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"What the fuck, Ty?" Matt spat furiously, fighting the hold the—clearly stronger—boy had on his shirt. Tyler ignored him, pressing his hard body into Matt's.

"You're really good at avoiding questions. You know that?" Tyler fisted Matt's and roughly snatched him forward then slammed his back into the lockers. Not enough to hurt, but enough for Matt to take him seriously.

"Come on, Tyler, stop it! This isn't funny!" Matt snapped, attempting to snatch himself free of Tyler's grasp, but the other teen held true. "No! I'm not avoiding you!" Matt lied irately. "We just had lunch together! Now fucking let me go!"

"You know what I'm talking about," Tyler practically growled. "Are you afraid to be alone with me Matty?"

"Tyler you're pissing me off!" Matt snapped.

"Is that what it's gonna take? Am I gonna have to make you angry? Huh? Do you like it _rough?"_

When he suddenly rubbed his crotch into Matt's, roughly dry humping him against the lockers, Matt froze. He stood there with wide eyes and a stiffening dick, letting Tyler do what he would. The spell was cast and Matt could no longer move. He would simply stand there and let Tyler have his way. He was already painfully erect and as Tyler rutted into him, he could feel Tyler's dick reacting to the friction through their shorts.

"You should really go ahead and snap, so we can get this over with," he said smugly, running his hands under Matt's shirt. "Then you can admit that I'm stronger than you, and that you could never take this ass and we can go back to normal." He continued to grind into Matt, the friction making his dick harder. Matt could feel it rubbing against his own and—oh _fuck_ , if it didn't feel amazing. "Is my hard dick rubbing into yours enough to make you snap? How about this?" And before Matt could see it coming, Tyler had pressed his lips into Matt's.

Oh God. Matt was kissing his best friend. And it was _clear_ that Tyler was no novice. When he shoved his tongue into Matt's mouth, Matt granted him complete control. He ground into Matt harder. Kissing Tyler was much different than kissing Jeremy, although they were both pleasurable in their own respective ways. Tyler was forceful, taking what he wanted, completing dominating the kiss, whereas kissing Jeremy was mutual, soft, and sensual.

"That's not enough either?" Tyler asked, retracting his talented tongue from his friend's mouth. "Huh?" He pressed a few more hard kisses into Matt's lips. "No? How about this?" Tyler stepped back and reached down to undo his shorts, shoving them down his thighs in one swift motion. When his dick popped free, Matt saw it at full mast for the first time, live, in the flesh, and fuck was it beautiful.

"You like it?" Tyler smirked when he saw Matt gawking. He reached down and dry pumped the long, thick, hard rod. "Chicks practically swoon over this dick. And the _sounds_ I have them making…" Tyler stepped back up to Matt who was still frozen against the lockers.

Matt watched with wide eyes as Tyler slipped his hands over to Matt's waistline, leaving the hard dick standing straight and proud. He undid Matt's pants as well, and without any clumsiness or delay, he snatched Matt's pants down his thighs also, causing Matt's aching dick to spring from its confines. Tyler promptly grabbed both his and Matt's cock into his fist and pumped them together.

Matt gasped a short breath as Tyler gave him the same seductive moan he'd implemented in his bedroom. "Mmnnngnnm… _fuck_ Matty, this feels good." He slammed their mouths back together. Tyler pumped and kissed and pumped and grinded and kissed and fuck… Matt was coming undone. He could feel his balls preparing themselves.

"This isn't working either?" Tyler sighed theatrically. "I guess I'm gonna have to push even harder."

Tyler slowly knelt before Matt's hard cock, teasing him with the pace. "Is this enough to make you make you snap, Matty?" Tyler asked, looking up at Matt lewdly. He kissed the helmet of Matt's this shaft. No… He wouldn't… But he _did_. Without breaking eye contact, Tyler slowly sucked the dick into his mouth and swallowed half of it easily.

"Fuck, Ty!" Matt cried astonished, looking down into the dark eyes. He was receiving his first blow job! And he couldn't believe his _best_ _friend_ was doing it!

Tyler popped off the dick with a really wet sound and worked the length with his hand. "Is that enough, Matty?" he asked, the lust in his tone pouring out like water from a faucet. "Come on. _Snap._ " He removed his hand, sucked the dick back in, and bobbed on it like a chicken plucking for corn, going deeper and deeper, until his lips wrapped around the base of Matt's cock each time.

Matt's head fell back and thumped into the lockers. Is this what he had done to Jeremy? Is this what it had felt like? Fuck… Tyler's mouth… It had Matt squirming. He could understand why Jeremy had almost collapsed. Because if Tyler kept that up, Matt would—oh fuck. He was so close… Matt was gonna—

And Tyler abruptly popped off _just_ before Matt burst. A bit of it dribbled from his tip, then his orgasm slowly drifted back to Matt's sack, making them throb painfully. "We can't have you coming yet," Tyler said, smiling smugly up at Matt. He rose to his feet, completely abandoning Matt's cock, leaving it aching and leaking. When Matt made a desperate attempt to finish himself off, Tyler smirked and slapped his hand away before Matt could even touch himself. Matt whimpered, completely unashamed. He just needed to come.

"You gonna snap?" Tyler gazed into Matt's blue yearnful eyes, speaking with fake sympathy. So fucking cruel. "Come on, Matty…. My ass is already out. Turn me around and try to fucking _take_ it. I can tell your balls are _aching_..." Tyler gently groped said balls, expertly avoiding Matt's sensitive cock head, eliciting a tortured moan from him.

"Tyler, please…" Matt whined, sounding like a small child denied a sweet. He wasn't sure if he was begging for Tyler to stop or for him to continue, to just let him climax.

"No," Tyler sneered, shaking his head cruelly. He roughly gripped Matt's shirt again and spun him around. Tyler firmly pushed into the middle of his scapula, shoving Matt's chest against the lockers and holding him there, making Matt reflexively slam his palms into the locker. Matt hissed when his cock head made contact with the cool metal.

"Tyler?" Matt's tone was a little apprehensive despite himself. "What are you doing?"

At first, Tyler didn't answer. He simply groped Matt's exposed ass, caressing the muscled cheeks. He manipulated Matt's pelvis, making the firm backside stick up and and out in a position he found suitable. Then he finally leaned in and softly whispered in Matt's ear.

"You're making me pull out all the stops, Matty," he said, his tone suggesting that all of his actions were Matt's fault. "I told you that I would keep going. That is, unless you man up and stop me. You gonna snap and stop me Matty?"

"Tyler _please…_ " Matt begged again, still unsure of what he was asking for. It was maybe three seconds later that Matt felt a wet finger pressing against his hole. He flinched in shock, his eyes widening. " _Tyler…_ " he gasped.

"I'm _gonna keep going_ until you stop me," Tyler repeated in the same innocent tone as before, rubbing his saliva covered finger over the tight hole. Matt could practically _hear_ the shrug in Tyler's voice. "You gonna stop me?" But Matt _couldn't_ stop him. Tyler still had Matt under his spell where Matt knew he would remain until Tyler released him. So he simply stood there with his ass lewdly tilted in the air, letting Tyler pressed against his hole until—

The finger breached him. Matt flinched again, tensing and gasping sharply. Tyler's finger was inside of him! Tyler continued to slowly insert the finger, his other hand still pressed into Matt's back. Matt's body wanted to push the invasion out. He squirmed from the small yet still unpleasant burning sensation. Tyler pulled the finger almost all of the way out, only to press it back in again. Before long, Tyler was fucking Matt with his finger.

Just when Matt had begun to relax around the intrusion, Tyler completely removed it, leaving Matt with a surprisingly empty feeling. Matt heard several wet sounds, as if Tyler were spitting. Then Tyler released his restraint on Matt's back and Matt felt warm hands spreading his ass cheeks.

"Tyler?" Matt trepidly squirmed a little. Tyler wouldn't… he'd only used one finger. That wasn't enough. Matt couldn't—

And there was the helmet of his cock, smothered in saliva and pressed against Matt's barely stretched hole. "I'm gonna fuck you, Matt." Tyler's voice was placid now, all traces of seduction and smugness gone, no more teasing, no more taunting. It Tyler talking to his best friend. "If you don't stop me I'm gonna stick this thick dick up your ass." When he received only sharp, rattling breaths from Matt in response, he gently pressed his cock forward until—

Oh God! —the head penetrated Matt's tight, resisting hole.

"Mngh! _Fuck!_ Ty…" Matt squirmed under the painful intrusion and Tyler released Matt's ass cheeks, gripping his waist instead to hold him in place. The dick was so much _larger_ than Tyler's finger. How did it fit? "Tyler wait—Tyler just...hold up—" Matt fumbled, reaching a hand back, pressing his fingertips into his friend's lower abdomen, a feeble attempt to prevent progression.

Tyler chuckled. "Gonna have to try harder than that, Matt." He flicked Matt's arm out of his way and continued to slowly force himself into the resisting hole. Matt groaned and moaned from the feel of the large appendage shoving its way into him. He clawed at the smooth lockers he was pressed against. He trembled and quaked through laboured breaths, fighting to remain on his feet as Tyler pressed on.

Wasn't this supposed to feel good? In all of the videos Matt had watched, the bottoms were always moaning in ecstasy. Didn't men have a gspot? Didn't they have a _nerve_ or something inside of there? Maybe Matt's was missing or maybe Tyler was doing something wrong because that shit _hurt_. Matt's previously aching, almost complete cock, was slowly wilting. It felt like Tyler was pushing his—and then Tyler bottom out. His pelvis touched Matt's ass cheeks and the tip of his dick brushed into something that sent a rocket up Matt's spine. It was like pressing a calm-the-fuck-down button; Matt instantly relaxed.

"Oh fuck!" Matt cried, shivering from the feel of it and his dick sprang back to life. That had to be it. That was his spot. There was no other explanation. Because now that Matt had stopped resisting, it was easier for Tyler to pull almost all the way out and graze back in and when he did, he easily brushing into that spot again—

"Mmngh…" They emitted two simultaneous moans of pleasure. The pain was still there, but Matt could ignore it now that Tyler had found that— "Oh fuck!" He'd pulled out and pressed into it again. "Tyler, yes, fuck…" Matt clawed at the lockers again but for a completely different reason this time.

"Mngh, fuck," Tyler moaned behind him, picking up his pace. "This is totally happening, Matty. I'm fucking you, dude." He quickly found a smooth rhythm and I was immediately clear that Tyler had fucked someone _several_ times before. His strokes were smooth and even. And though there was small amount of friction similar to chafing due to the a lack of proper lubricant, Tyler's strokes still seemed almost effortless.

"You're so fucking tight… Oh fuck… You're tighter than any pussy I've _ever_ been in… Mngh, you feel so fucking good, Matty..." Tyler thrusted and pushed and stroked into the tight hole, sending little sparks up Matt's spine each time, extracting deep sometimes raspy moans from him. At some point, Matt had begun to press back into Tyler's thrusts. When had he started doing that?

"Your ass is _gripping_ my dick, Matt. You're so fucking warm."

Matt peered over his shoulder and watched himself fuck his ass on Tyler's long thick dick. He watched it slide in and out, in and out of him, stretching his tight hole open, going so deep every fucking time. _Fuck_ , it was so _big._ And Matt was taking _all_ of it. "Your dick feels so fucking good… You're so deep inside of me... I'm so fucking close…"

"Yeah? Me too, Matt," Tyler panted. "I'm right behind you—" _pant_ "—but first I need you to know—" _pant_ "—that I followed you down to Coach's office... I was standing outside the entire time..." Tyler continued to fuck him. They panted together as Matt listened to the shocking words while the pleasure coursed through him. "You may be the new starting quarterback..." Tyler's voice turned into an angry hiss. "But I'm _still_ better than you... and we both _know_ it…. So _say_ it, Matty… tell me who's better."

"You," Matt answered promptly, the sexual pleasure making him spill the truth. His voice came out in a high-pitched whine and he reached down to grip his throbbing cock. It only took one, two, three pumps and he was busting his heavy load all over the lockers. "It's you, Ty. _Fuck_ … You're better than me, always have been and always will be... _fuck..._ "

"You're damn right I will..." Tyler snarled. He wrapped his arms around Matt's and pulled him back into his chest. Then Tyler slammed into him. The sharp strike into Matt's spot snatched a scream from the blonde. He couldn't contain it. It felt so amazing...

"Fuc!—" Tyler slapped a hand over Matt's mouth, muffling him as he pounded into him. Matt trembled, his heavy load continuing to spill out of him. Matt pumped it out of himself, Tyler's quick jabs into that spot increasing the pleasure. Matt's ass muscles clenched around the dick inside him making it feel even larger. And then, Tyler was grunting and a warm something was filling Matt's insides.

"Mngh, fuck… Matt… It doesn't matter that you're the new quarterback…" Tyler panted through his climax, slamming into Matt. "I'll admit that I'm a little pissed about it, but I'll get over it. You're still my best friend… and you _still_ wound up on the bottom."

Matt moaned into the strong hand firmly cupping his mouth and Tyler pounded him, the sound of their slapping skin echoing in the vacant locker room. Tyler emptied himself into the blonde teen until they both stood there panting, slowly climbing down from what was the first anal sex for the both of them.

After a small moment of blissful refraction, Tyler slowly pulled his softening cock free and a bit of his come dripped from Matt's swollen hole and ran down his leg. Matt turned and looked at the raven haired boy. For a moment they simply stood there watching each other, their pants still around their thighs, until Tyler slowly pulled his up, tucking himself in and fastening his buckle.

"Well," he smirked, "now we know you're not stronger than me." And with that, he turned and walked away, just like he always did, leaving Matt completely and utterly debauched once again.

A vibration from Matt's abandoned phone brought reality crashing back down on him with a vengeance. They had just fucked in the school's locker room. Matt's best friend had just taken his virginity. He'd shoved him up against a locker where _anyone_ could've walked in and _fucked_ him. Hard. Coach Tanner was probably still a few doors down in his office and Matt was standing there with his pants around his thighs, and his ass leaking Tyler's juice. Matt had to clean himself up and he had to do it quickly.

But when he stooped to retrieve his phone, the burning sensation in his anal region became a force to be reckoned with. Bending over felt worse than it did after Coach had them sitting in the invisible chair for too long. It was as if someone had stuck a lit match into Matt's ass. No, match wasn't descriptive enough, a _torch._ How could penetration feel so magnificent during but so excruciating afterwards? Matt had to lean into the lockers for stability and kind of tilt over sideways to scoop the device from the floor. Even walking to the locker's toilet to get tissue was a strenuous task. It had felt so _wonderful_ during, but who knew that getting dicked so good would be so painful afterwards?

He crept over to the locker room's toilets in a wide stance, the pain sending sharp volts up his back. After wiping the semen from his leg and off his tender hole, Matt flushed away the evidence and fixed his clothes. He then practiced walking casually on his way back over to clean the lockers and _fuck_ was it unpleasant. But if he planked his back as straight as possible and didn't bend his knees as much when he moved… it wasn't so bad. It was manageable. Matt caught a glimpse of himself in the full body mirror as he passed by and his shoulders slumped.

Seeing himself was the perfect description of the phrase 'walking with a stick up your ass'. Matt was stiff and it was blatantly obvious what was wrong. Everyone would know _exactly_ what had happened if walked down the hall like that. Would _every_ time be like this? How long before the agony abated and he could walk straight again? He couldn't have a congratulatory bonfire walking crooked. Why had he let this happen? Oh yeah… because Tyler was some kind of black sorcerer when it came to seducing Matt.

He had decided to go just call it day and go home, lie on his stomach in bed and rest it out—because it was the last day anyway. What would they do, suspend him?—when his phone vibrated in his hand again, notifying him that he still had an unread message. It was a seventeen minute old response from Jeremy.

 _swear dude?! :D_

 _That's great! We_

 _should go out and_

 _celebrate!_

Oh fuck… Matt dipped out of the locker room's fire exit, hoping that if anyone saw him slipping away from the building that way, they would assume it was because he was skiving off school two hours early and therefore attempting to escape the premises undetected. Not because he didn't want too many people to witness him walking like his best friend had just fucked him up the ass.

Matt scurried pass the gym and across the parking lot, stiffly weaving through cars until made it to his truck, hopeful unseen. He painfully climb into to cab and we he sat down—oh fuck! He grunted through the pain. There was nothing else for it. He didn't want to, but he would have to _lie_. He _couldn't_ let Jeremy see him like this. Matt still didn't know what their relationship was.

 _actually I'm not feeling_

 _well. i wouldn't be_

 _much fun if i went out._

That wasn't a lie, was it? He _wasn't_ feeling well. His ass wasn't feeling well at _all._

 _dude what's wrong?_

 _Is there anything I can_

 _do to help?_

Fuck. _Fuck, fuck, fuck…_ He just had to go and ask _that_ question.

 _naw i think the school might've under_

 _cooked the mystery meat again. i'm_

 _just gonna head home and rest it off._

That _still_ wasn't a lie. It was an implication. The lunch lady was well known for undercooking the food. Awww, who the fuck was Matt kidding? He was a big fat liar. He was lying to Jeremy and he felt fucking terrible about it.

"Fuck you, Tyler…" he sighed to the empty truck.

 _Well... congratulations_

 _and I hope u feel better._

 _yeah tyl_

 _Later_

Matt sighed again and pulled away from the school, feeling like the complete and total lying bastard that he was.


	11. Chapter 11

At around noon, Matt had started texting everybody, everybody had started texting everybody _else_ , and Vicki had gotten _somebody_ to get some beer because she was _Vicki_ , so _course_ she knew a guy. By 10 pm the riverbank of Mystic Falls was filled with drunk teenagers. There were so many people clapping him on the shoulder and congratulating him, it had been a little hard to pull Jeremy away from them, but Matt had managed it.

"Jer, I've been meaning to talk to you," Matt started nervously. "But I kinda don't know how to start it, so I'm just gonna dove in. Okay?"

"Okay..." Jeremy responded sounding just as nervous as Matt and Matt plowed on.

"I just—I know you overheard Jenna's and my conversation last week. And on top of that I kinda blowed you in the bathroom." Matt blushed sheepishly. "I don't want you feel obligated to sleep with me when we're alone next Friday." Matt watched the boy's frowning face apprehensively as the words sank in. "Don't get me wrong," he continued. "I would love it if we _did_ ," Matt flushed again at the honesty, "but I want you to do it because you _want_ to."

They were silent for a moment with Matt slowly returning a deep scarlet. What if he'd just fucked up? What if Jeremy never felt like that at all? What if—

"Hey," someone called in a greeting. Matt and Jeremy both turned at the sound of the familiar voice and, sure enough, it was Tyler. He was approaching them from a small cluster of people with a little red solo cup in his hand as well. Matt hadn't seen or spoken to him since they'd fucked in the locker room—Matt's ass was still tingling a bit from the experience—and Tyler walked up to them casually, as if none of that had even happened. Matt could tell that he was maybe two more drinks away from being tipsy from the way his feet practically tumbled across each other.

"Look at the two lovebirds," he teased in a stage whisper. Matt widened his eyes in a 'shut the fuck up!' gesture. He hadn't gotten around to telling Jeremy that Tyler knew everything. But the pretentious teen pressed on, not noticing Matt's warning. "You look so cute together," he teased.

As Tyler's words sank in, Jeremy's eyes widened in comprehension. He stared between Matt and Tyler. He then blushed sheepishly and dropped his head. Matt could see the precise moment when Tyler realized his mistake. It was written all over his face.

"Oh shit…" he said, his eyes the size of quarters. "I just fucked up. You didn't know that I know. Did you?"

"No, I did not," Jeremy told the ground.

"Well…" Tyler paused, clearly remorseful of his action. But it didn't last long. "Now you do!" He finished cheerfully, as if that somehow excused his fallacy. "I'm his best friend. Of _course_ he told me," Tyler slurred. "But don't worry. Your little queer secret is safe with me. I _promise._ " And he held his fist up for Jeremy to punch it. As Jeremy timidly pumped their knuckles together, Tyler's gaze drifted off over Matt's shoulder.

"Who is _she?_ " They all stared at the redhead with large breast and a slim waist strolling down the path to the river alone. That girl definitely did _not_ go to Mystic Falls High School. Matt would've noticed her.

"Please excuse me, gentlemen." Tyler downed the rest of his little red cup and tossed it to the side. He then turned and strutted off like a hot shot to the unfamiliar girl approaching the gathering.

"So what _are_ we?" Jeremy blurted out as Tyler retreated. " _Are_ we lovebirds?" Matt flushed a deep crimson from brashness off the question.

"That's something I've been wondering myself," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well… what do you _want_ us to be?" Jeremy asked expectantly.

"Well, I'd like to be your… your _boyfriend…._ if that's what _you_ want."

"Yeah?" Jeremy responded. And Matt's heart almost melted at the excitement on the younger boy's face, the hope. "I'd like that too."

Matt beamed at him like a silky schoolgirl. "If there weren't so many people around I'd kiss you."

Jeremy discretely looked around to ensure that no one was watching, he laced his fingers into Matt's. "Come on." Jeremy tugged him away from the riverside and Matt let him pull them both off into the woods. They stumbled over sticks and logs, until the light and sounds from the bonfire were faint behind them and the younger boy chose that moment to push Matt's back into a birch tree and press their lips together. He amorously ran one hand over Matt's firm body, groping his groin with the other. He pressed a few more soft kisses into Matt's lips while he undid the older boy's pants. When his hand slipped inside and wrapped around Matt's semi dick, Matt was rock solid in seconds.

"Aww _fuck_ , Jer…" Matt reflexively humped into the hand.

"You like that, Matt?" Jeremy picked up the dry pumps, fisting the older boy's thick member, moving languidly. "You like my hand on your dick?"

"Oh fuck yes, Jer," Matt hissed.

"Can I put you in my mouth, Matt?" Jeremy asked, intentionally using Matt's words. "I want to _taste_ you."

Oh _fuck…._ those _words_ … Matt tugged his jeans down his thighs, exposing Jeremy's pumping hand to the warm summer night. Matt reached his arms above his head and wrapped them around the tree in preparation.

" _Please_ , Jer," Matt said, his arousal making his voice come out a little desperately. "Please suck my dick."

Jeremy bit his lower lip, smiling. Then he lowered himself to his knees on the leafy forest floor, using the same painfully languid motions until—fuck! Matt's cock head was in a warm, wet mouth. Matt moaned, practically sinking into the tree. He looked down and found chocolate eyes peering up at him amorously. Leaving one arm around the tree, Matt stroked Jeremy's face affectionately, gently running his fingers through his dark hair as he watched those lips slowly, slowly, slowly slide down the thick rod until— _fuuuuuck…_

Jeremy had moved his hand and Matt's entire length was completely nestled inside the warm mouth. He could feel himself pressing into the boy's throat.

"Oh _fuck._ Just like that," Matt groaned. "Open that throat for me, Jer." Without shifting his eyes, Jeremy reached a hand up and encouraged Matt's fingers to lock in his hair. He drew back on the cock, making Matt squirm against the tree. Jeremy pulled back until the dick slipped from his mouth, leaving it standing erect and brushing into his lips.

"I want you to fuck my mouth, Matt," he said in the same languid manner, holding Matt's fingers in place in his hair.

"Yeah?" A small, excited grin breached the corner of Matt's mouth.

"Yeah… I want to choke on your dick." Oh fuck… The words were going straight to Matt's already aching cock. "I want to fucking gag on it."

"Yeah?" Matt repeated, a little more fervently this time, his grin an all out smile now.

"Fuck my mouth, Matt." Jeremy knelt there gazing up at the older teen, his jaw hanging slack, presenting himself. Matt locked his other hand into the other side of Jeremy's head and Jeremy released the hand manipulating Matt's fingers. Jeremy planted both his palms into Matt's thighs to brace himself for the onslaught. Matt could see the eagerness in his eyes. Jeremy _actually_ wanted this.

Still, Matt was gentle when he pushed his cock back into the warm mouth, moaning as he pushed it down Jeremy's throat. He was soft and caring, manipulating the boy's head timidly, until he realized that Jeremy was okay. Matt's thrust slowly increased in pace, as did his pressure on Jeremy's lax head. He moaned deep moans, staring into the boy's greedy eyes, going in and out, in and out of the mouth, faster and faster, until he was _shoving_ his dick down Jeremy's tight throat, just like the boy had asked him to.

"Fuck, Jer!" Matt growled. He pounded into the boy's mouth, slamming down the throat. The gurgling noises were pulling Matt closer to the edge. "Fuck! Your _mouth_ is _so fucking tight!_ " He enunciated each word with sharp jab.

And Jeremy gagged. "Oh God, Jer, I'm _so_ sorry!" Matt reached out for him in concern. He had said he wanted to choke. Matt didn't—

"No, it's okay," Jeremy fumbled frantically. "Don't stop." He hastily sucked the cock back into his mouth and bobbed on it hungrily. Oh _fuck_ … Matt's grin returned. Who knew that Jeremy was such a little cock slut? It was actually kind of _hot._ He was sucking Matt's dick down like a—a— _fuck!_

Matt didn't know what! He couldn't think straight. He was coming. Hard. Tears streamed down Jeremy's red face as Matt controlled the boy's head, bursting his heavy load down the tight throat. It _poured_ out Matt, like a backed up firehose. When Matt finally pulled his spent cock free, Jeremy took a sharp gasp of air.

"That was _everything!_ " he cried ecstatically. He wiped his tears away, beaming like a child on Christmas. Matt peered down panting to see the boy's thick white liquid splattered across the leaves on the ground. When had Jeremy pulled his dick out?

Matt had been so absorbed in his own orgasm, he had missed Jeremy's. He vowed to pay more attention next time. He wanted to witness _all_ of the boy's climaxes from that moment forward. The way Jeremy's face twisted and contorted when he came Matt's memory. Matt wanted to see it over and over again.

Jeremy exuberantly kissed his way back up Matt's body, just as Matt had done him. He kissed until their lips found each other again and he slipped his tongue into Matt's mouth, fondling around. Same scene, different setting.

"There," Jeremy sighed. He drew back panting and smirking. "Now there's no reason for me to feel obligated to do anything. We're even."

"Umm… we're kinda not," Matt corrected him with a light chuckle. "I gave you a simple blowjob. _You_ just let me fuck your face. That's _so_ not the same thing." Matt shrugged. "Now it looks like I'm the one in _your_ gratitude."

Jeremy smirked again. "Well I look forward to my _boyfriend_ making it up to me." He pecked a few more sweet kisses into the older boy's lips. Then he tucked Matt back into his pants, tucking himself away afterwards. They fixed their clothes, with Jeremy brushing away the bits of twigs and leaves that had velcroed themselves to his knees. Then he laced their fingers together and pulled them back out to the bonfire. Matt reluctantly released Jeremy's hand with one final kiss when they reached the forest's edge and stepped back out into the clearing, trying not to ogle at each other like teenaged idiots they were.

"I'm go gonna go get us some beer, okay?" Matt smiled. "If I stay here while I come down I'm gonna keep gazing at you like a lovesick puppy and someone's gonna notice." The confession made Matt blush and discreetly glance around, checking it they were being overheard.

"Okay." Jeremy smiled back affectionately. "I'll be waiting here."

"Okay." Matt couldn't wipe his grin from his face as he awkwardly bustled away. They had _totally_ just done that. And fuck if it didn't make Matt want Jeremy even more. Matt smiled on, thinking of all the unchaste things he wanted to do to the boy as he idled pass classmates and a few of the recent graduates, receiving fond congratulatory words as he made his way down the river. The dark waters reflected the stars, the crescent moon, and bonfire's light in a magnificent way.

After Matt made it to the beer truck, I wasn't long before Tyler reappeared, clumsily making his way over to the truck as well. He looked a little angry and frustrated, an obvious sign that he hadn't gotten lucky. Matt grinned mischievously at his approaching friend. Maybe his little shoulder devil was rubbing off on him because his next words didn't have the kindest intentions.

"So what happened with the busty redhead?" Matt teased, filling the first cup from one of the many kegs set up on the tailgate. Matt didn't know or care who the pickup truck belonged to. He simply appreciated them for providing the alcohol.

"Dude, she was a fucking tease," Tyler spat irately, his thicker slurs suggesting that he'd had the two more drinks it took to push him over the edge. He leaned into the truck clumsily. "Got me worked up for nothing…"

"Too bad for _you_ ," Matt smirked, filling the second cup now.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Tyler frowned at him curiously. "You're looking all _chipper.._. What happened?"

"Well…" Matt scooped up the two cups, smiling the smug signature Tyler Lockwood smile. "While _you_ were getting _rejected, I_ was getting head."

The shock on Tyler's drunk face was almost comical. " _Ooooo…._ " He laughed. "Look at Little Gilbert putting his mouth to work!" Tyler punched Matt's shoulder animatedly then smiled wryly. "Was he better than me?" Matt blushed fiercely. Honestly, he had set himself up for that one. He wanted to snap a snarky response—dude, _so_ much better—but before he could recover, Tyler had abruptly switched gears on him.

"You know what? I have an idea." Tyler gently scooped the cups from Matt's hand—surprisingly without spilling any considering his drunkenness—and set them back on the tailgate next to the kegs. "That _bitch_ redhead got me all excited, then left me high and dry and now my dick is hard." Tyler gripped it for emphasis. "How about you let me put it inside _you_ instead?"

Matt promptly turned another interesting shade of scarlet and swiftly glanced around, checking that no one was listening. A fellow teammate had idled over to get a refill from the the keg, but he didn't seem to be paying them any attention. Matt shifted on his feet uncomfortably, waiting for him to leave before he responded.

" _No_ ," he snapped, speaking in hushed tones. He'd literally _just_ committed himself to Jeremy. "I thought you _liked pussy too much?_ " Matt sardonically threw Tyler's words back at him. "Besides, if I recall correctly, I didn't _let_ you do anything. You shoved me up against a locker and _took_ it."

"Whatever… I gave you _plenty_ of opportunities to stop me," Tyler slurred, waving Matt's words away. "You didn't because you _wanted_ it. And I _do_ like pussy. _A lot._ We already know that. But I also liked this tight _ass—_ " Tyler reached around and squeezed it, making Matt startle and glance around again in shock. No one had saw that, had they? Matt roughly slapped Tyler's fondling hand away. "—and I know that _you_ liked this thick dick. What we did yesterday was some of the best sex I've ever had. So _come on…_ Your ass was so _good._ Let's go off behind a tree somewhere and bend you over." The alcohol was making Tyler sound almost petulant, like a begging child. Even so, Matt could still feel the black magic approaching. He had to get away before Tyler could inadvertently cast his spell.

" _No,_ Ty," he said, putting as much force into the two words as he could while he brushed around his friend and practically ran away from him. Matt couldn't keep doing those things with Tyler. Even though his balls had just emptied themselves, his young stamina and Tyler's words had juiced them up for another milking. As much as his dick wanted him to turn around, as much as it screamed for him to go back, Matt continued to put distance and bodies between himself and his best friend. His phone vibrated in his pocket as he rushed away from the truck.

 _If I got it out of you once,_

 _I can easily get it again._

Matt didn't even respond. Because he knew Tyler was right. He also knew that he'd just unintentionally given his overly competitive best friend another challenge. Fuck. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

"Dude. Where's the beer?" Jeremy asked, smiling his warm smile when Matt made his way back to him.

"Oh, fuck…" Matt had left the fucking beer. _Fuck you, Tyler_. "I'm sorry. I ran into Tyler again and got sidetracked." That _honestly wasn't a lie,_ so Matt didn't feel bad about it. "But forget about it. Don't you owe me a facefucking?" Tyler's words had left Matt's dick hard and needy. "I'm ready if you are." He smiled suggestively.

"Dude, I was ready like _two_ minutes after we got done."

Matt smiled. "Then let's go back to my truck."

Matt drove them off a bit down the road and pull into the driveway of an abandoned home, where Jeremy dutifully laid the older boy out on his back across the bed of the truck, straddled his face, and pounded that long dick into his throat, with Matt clutching into the younger boy's ass attempting to push him deeper.


	12. Chapter 12

Over the next few days, whenever Matt wasn't working, he was with Jeremy. They would laugh over a meal at The Grill, at the cage letting Jeremy practice batting, _anything_ that kept Matt where he wanted to be, close to the younger boy. As the days came to a close or as his work shift approached, Matt would always wish to stop time so he could spend more of it with him, even though he knew they had all of the rest of the summer together.

He also had to rest of the summer to avoid Tyler, something he found himself doing _once again._ Every morning since that Saturday Matt woke up to a juicy dick pic from his best friend. And every morning Matt told himself _not to look_ because he knew what the picture was, he knew what Tyler wanted, what he was trying to do. Matt would fight with himself, telling himself to delete the message. But he always opened it, unable to resist gazing over the perfection that was Tyler dick. Then his little bubble would promptly move down the screen, notifying Tyler that he'd read the message, and if that didn't just make Matt feel _worse_.

That had to be stroking Tyler's ego, knowing that even though Matt never responded, he always viewed the photo. Matt had just climbed out of a steamy shower and made his way back to his room when the little blue light on his phone notified him of a message. Of course he knew what it was, but he retrieved the phone from his nightstand anyway. He would wind up looking at the picture in the end no matter how hard he tried not to, so best to go ahead and get it over with.

Matt opened the message and his heart jumped into his throat. Once again, he'd been expecting a picture, but had received a video instead, an _entire seven minute video._ Tyler had managed to prop his phone up at the foot of his bed somehow and was knelt before the camera, stark naked with his round muscled backside exposed, the backside that Matt hated to admit he loved. Tyler knelt there, moaning as he slowly pushed two thick fingers between lucious ass cheeks and—

"Oh my _fucking_ God…" Matt couldn't believe his eyes. His cock instantly sprang to life beneath the towel around his waist. It was a video of Tyler fucking himself. He was knelt in his bed with two thick fingers pressed into himself up to the second knuckle. Matt stared at his phone with wide astounded eyes, watching Tyler's tight ass suck the fingers in. Tyler pulled them out and let his his hole suck them back in again.

"Mngh… _fuck_ me, Matty…" Tyler's voice tumbled from the phone while he thrusted his hips back into his fingers. "Fuck me hard."

"Oh my _fucking God…_ " Matt repeated, staring at his friend's tight asshole wrapped snuggly around the fingers. Matt inadvertently wondered what the hole would feel like wrapped around his dick. He would shove himself so far inside of Tyler even his _balls_ would disappear in that virgin hole.

Tyler rolled over onto his back in the video, cocking his visibly strong legs into the air and spreading them wide, giving Matt a clear view of those fingers sliding in and out of the tiny hole. Tyler's face was twisted from thr sensation of it.

"Oh fuck, Matt, Don't you want this to be—"

"You like it?" The familiar voice behind Matt startled him, making him drop his phone and abruptly spin toward his doorway, where he found Tyler, casually leaning into the doorframe with that stupid smug smile in place. "You like watching me fuck myself?"

" _Tyler?_ What are you—how did—"

"Vicki must have left the side door unlocked," he interrupted, stepping into the room. "I let myself in and called or for you but…" Tyler paused and smiled his smug smile. "You were so absorbed in my video you must not have heard me."

"Tyler, you can't just _walk_ into people's houses…" Matt attempted to put force into his voice but he could hear the failure with his _own_ ears.

"I just did." Tyler shrugged. "Honestly, I wanted _you_ to come crawling to _me_ but… I want your ass bad Matty, so I just had to break down and come to you." He gazed down a Matt's hard cock tenting the towel. "And look at that… you're already naked for me. How _convenient?_ " Then he snatched off Matt's towel and flung it behind him, out the bedroom door and into the hall. He openly gazed at the stiff knob. "You always get so hard for me."

"Tyler, you have to—" Coarse fingertips landed over the blonde teen's mouth, silencing him.

"Just stop fighting me, Matt." Tyler looked at him as if Matt were foolish for even trying. "We both know that you want this as much as I do. So here's what's gonna happen." Tyler slowly undid the fastening of his pants while kicking off his shoes. "I'm gonna get on my knees in your bed, and give you a live show of me fucking myself." Tyler lewdly slid his pants down his thighs—and there was was that long familiar dick of his. Oh fuck… He kicked the jumbled garment to the side, leaving himself standing before Matt naked from the waist down. "Then, you're gonna swallow this long dick until it's about to pop. _Then,_ after you're all hot and ready to burst, I'm gonna put you on your back and fuck your thick load out of you, filling you up worth mine in process. How does that sound?"

Matt opened his mouth to voice his rejections but only a soft croak escaped him, making Tyler chuckle. Then, true to his word, Tyler crawled into Matt's bed with his smug smile in place, and positioned himself there, giving Matt a glorious view of his perfect backside.

"I came over prepared for the show," he spoke over his shoulder. "I've already got my hole nice and ready." Tyler reached back to spread one of the plump cheeks and sure enough, the pink rosebud was shiny with lube. And with no more ado, Tyler slipped his longest finger in to the knuckle.

"Holy fuck…" The astonished words were out of Matt's mouth before he could even think them. Tyler had his finger inside of himself. Right in front of Matt. Oh fuck. The blonde teen watched the finger slowly slide out of the contracting confines, until it broke free only for Tyler to push it back in again.

"Oh my God, Matt, my ass is so _tight_ around my finger," Tyler sighed seductively. "And there's this little spot inside of me that just—" he wiggled the finger around inside himself, "— _mnnngh, fuck…_ It sends waves up my spine. You wanna see me put two fingers in?"

Matt simply stared dumbly.

"I want to hear you say it Matty," Tyler whispered over his shoulder, pumping himself with the lone finger. "Tell me you want to see another finger go inside."

Matt wanted to see it. So desperately. But he didn't know if he couldn't speak. He wasn't sure if his voice would come out properly, so with eyes unerringly focused on Tyler, he ardently nodded his head instead.

Tyler chuckled. "I guess that'll have to be good enough." Then his index finger slipped in next to the middle finger and— "Mngh…" Tyler nibbled on his lower lip. "Oh my fucking God, Matt. You like the show? Are you almost there? You wanna fuck me? Wanna replace my fingers with your thick dick?" He smiled cruelly. "Well this is a close as you're ever gonna get, so soak it up. Get ready to suck this dick. I'm gonna shove it down your fucking throat. Get your ass over here and open your mouth."

And those snarky overconfident words broke Matt. Who the fuck did Tyler think he was? Quite suddenly, something in Matt finally snapped and he snarled, throwing himself onto his friend like a feral animal, slapping Tyler's arm out of his way. Tyler screamed and tensed when the dick abruptly breached him—"What the fuck, Matt!"—but Matt forced himself in, the spit and lube along with Tyler's prestretching making it easy. Matt watched his dick slide in between plump cheeks until he bottomed out in warm Tyler Lockwood ass. Tyler tried to scramble away, but Matt flattened him on the bed, collapsing all of his heavy weight onto Tyler's back.

" _Fuck_ ," the startled boy cried. But Matt could tell his shout was mostly from shock and not pain. Without preamble, Matt set a swift pace inside of his friend, stroking into the tight channel over and over again. It was happening. Matt was finally fucking Tyler. He was finally deep inside of his best friend's perfect ass. He was forcing Tyler's hole open with his long girth, shoving huts cock head deep inside the boy.

"Matt, _fuck!_ " Tyler grunted from beneath him, clutching at the sheets. "Holy shit! You're so fucking thick! Wait! Just—fuck!" Tyler struggled and scrambled, attempting to escape, but Matt wrapped restricting arms around the teen's neck, restraining the boy while he pounded into him. _Fuck_ it felt amazing… Matt's eyes were rolling into his head.

"This is what you wanted, remember?" Matt seethed. "You wanted me to _snap._ Well I _did!_ Now my _dick_ is up your ass!" Matt rutted into his friend. "Who's fucking big and better now, bitch?!" Tyler's ass was so tight around Matt's cock. It was everything the blonde had imagined it would be. It clutched at him, squeezing like vice grips. Matt thrusted his long shaft in and out, in and out over and over again. Tyler's warm walls were contacting around him as squirmed under Matt.

"Oh my fuck," Tyler whined.

"Yeah? Take this thick dick, bitch," Matt growled, pounding into him. "I think this is what you fucking wanted all along. I think you secretly like dick too. Deep down you wanted this cock up your ass you fucking tease. You wanted me to pound your ass like a—"

It was then that Matt saw the figure from the corner of his eye, a lithe frame in baggy clothes standing in his bedroom doorway. He stood placidly, watching with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Matt's heart stopped. It froze and fell into his stomach as he stilled like stone on top of Tyler. Oh no… No, no, no, no, _no… Jeremy._

"Dude why'd you st—oh…" Tyler blanched at the sight of the younger boy in the doorway. Jeremy didn't speak. He didn't do anything. He simply stood there staring placidly. It looked as if he wasn't even breathing. It was as if there was a frozen air in the room holding everyone in place. Complete silence for a solid 7 seconds, Matt and Tyler's startled eyes watching Jeremy and Jeremy's blank gaze glued to their attached bodies. Then as if someone had thawed him, Jeremy stoically turned and walked away. His movement unfroze the room and Matt swiftly snatched himself free of Tyler making the boy wince.

He had to do something. This couldn't be happening. Jeremy couldn't—how had he—where— "Jeremy wait!" But Matt could already hear the side door closing. "Jeremy! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Matt hopped out of the bed, dick flopping, and had clothes on his body faster than he'd ever done it in his memory. He snatched on the first pair of pants he saw—filled with food stains from where he'd spilled an overladen bus tub on himself at work—without putting on underwear. He snatched a shirt over his head and his sneakers wound up on the wrong sockless feet. He then quickly dashed out of his room, not caring that he was leaving his half naked best friend alone in his bed. He was out the door, in his truck, and had caught Jeremy before he could reach the end of the block.

"Jeremy, _please_ get in." Matt begged, driving slowly alongside the boy, his heart throbbing in his chest. How had this happened? Where had Jeremy come from? What was he doing there? The boy blatantly ignored Matt and pressed on down the sidewalk. An SUV honked at Matt and drove around him. "Jeremy, _please._ Just let me explain," Matt said desperately. "It's _you_ I care about. Tyler doesn't mean anything to me. He just kept taunting me and he—No! Jeremy wai—fuck!"

Jeremy was running off. He'd abruptly put his knees to his chest and was hightailing it down the street. When Matt laid on the gas to catch him, Jeremy promptly turned and hopped the fence of the nearest lawn, cutting across the yard to escape Matt.

"Jeremy! Fuck!" Matt parked his truck, stuffed the keys in his pocket and abandoned his truck in the middle of the street, hopping the fence as well and chasing after the, surprisingly swift boy. Maybe he'd make a good running back after all. Even so, Matt _was_ a good running back. It therefore didn't take him long to tackle the boy. Matt took him down, pinning the younger teen under his heavier body.

"Jeremy please! Just listen to me!" Matt choked out.

"Fuck you, Matt! Get off me!" the slim boy growled, struggling beneath the blonde.

" _Please,_ Jer." Matt's voice cracked. Was he crying? Where had tears come from? When did that start?

"What?! What, Matt?! What can you say?!" Jeremy scowled furiously. He looked at if he might strike Matt at any moment. " _You_ were on top of _him! You_ were fucking _him!_ Not the other way around! You can't come up with an excuse! You were doing it because you _wanted_ to! Period! Now get the fuck _off_ me!" He jerked his head backwards with the word 'off', ramming his occipital bone into Matt's face, sending a sharp pain through the larger boy's nose.

"Fuck! Jer!" Matt cried out in agony, cringing from the piercing pain and clutching at his nose. In the midst of the distraction, Jeremy scrambled away from him and dashed away again, leaving Matt curled up in a stranger's back lawn. Matt heard one last angry sentence in the boys retreat.

"Take _Tyler_ to the _fucking_ game with you!"

 _End of Book One_


	13. Chapter 13

_Book Two: Six Weeks Later_

"Hey. It's Jeremy. I can't answer right now. Honestly, I probably misplaced my phone again. So leave a message and I'll get back to you whenever it turns up."

Matthew Donovan sat outside the quiet Gilbert home in his dark truck listening to the short voicemail for the thousandth time as he watched a silhouette move in the window he knew was Jeremy's, the same thing he'd been doing almost every night. He'd sent text after text, sad texts, angry texts, desperate texts, all to no avail, until finally he trudged out of his truck and bravely climbed the stairs he'd climbed many times before, his legs like led with each step. But ringing their doorbell, had simply been gently rejected by Jenna answering and kindly telling him to go away.

" _Please_ Jenna," Matt begged. "I just want to talk to him. He wouldn't let me—"

"He doesn't want to _see_ you, let alone talk to you. And quite frankly neither do I." She folded her arms in the doorway with a tightlipped expression. And though her words were sharp, Matt was elated to hear that her tone was not. Maybe he'd been coming at this from the wrong angle. Jenna didn't seem to be _too_ upset with him. Maybe he could get _her_ to convince Jeremy?

"Jenna? I need you to—"

"I asked you not to hurt him, Matt. And what did you go and do?"

"I was an _idiot_ Jenna, I know. What I did was a stupid, reckless, irrational, spur-of-the-moment decision. I just want another chance. You have to help me. _Please_ …"

Jenna glared at him hesitantly. "It's not that easy, Matt," she said. "It took him _days_ to cry after his _parents_ died. But the very same night after what you did, he came home with red eyes and a nose like Rudolph. You _really hurt him._ " She poked him thrice sharply in the chest, enunciating each word.

"Jenna you don't understand how _sorry_ I am. I never intended for any of this to happen. _Please,_ Jenna." Matt didn't think he had ever begged for anything so desperately in life. He didn't think he'd ever _wanted_ anything so desperately in his life. After all of his fawning, Matt had finally had Jeremy. For a brief moment of blissful happiness, he _had_ him. And then he let him get away.

Jenna glared at him murderously. "There's some professional color pencils he's been talking about. Castell something or the other. He hasn't specifically asked me for them, but I know he wants them. Get them for him and I'm sure it'll be hard for him to say no."

Matt couldn't stop the sigh of relief that he emitted. He hadn't even realized he'd been holding his breath. "Jenna thank you! Thank you _so—_ "

"I'm only helping you because for some stupid reason I still trust you. I know that deep down you're actually a nice guy and you'll be good for him. Somehow I believe that you simply fucked up. _Big_ time." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't do it again." And with no further words, she promptly shut the door in his face.

It was sharp and swift. So swift Matt felt the breeze from it ruffle his short hair. Well then. Maybe she was a little angrier than he thought. But still, with his new information Matt silently made his way back to his truck. He had a course of action now, more than he had when he'd arrived so he drove home deep in thought of where he could get professional colors from. Mystic Falls simply _wouldn't_ have what he needed.

Immediately after stepping through the side door of his home, Matt's ears were assaulted by a sound he wished he wasn't so familiar with. Unfortunately he _was._ He'd come home to it several times before, even when their mother was still with them—sometimes she had been the source—but lately, it seemed to occur more often than not.

On previous occasions, Matt would promptly turn around and head back out. He did _not_ want to hang around and listen to his sister have sex. Just…. _no._ Matt would probably think about the guy she was with and then he would think about strangling him and then he would—just… _no._ It was easier to simply leave and come back after the dirty deed was done.

But for some reason, Matt didn't care anymore. He went home to the familiar sounds tumbling up the hallway and he simply popped earbuds in, listening to Hooba to drown out the high pitched moans of his sister and the deep pleasured groans of the guy she was with—" _Damn_ girl…" They couldn't last forever unless the guy had some incredible stamina. Matt was fumbling around in the kitchen, warming some leftovers from the night before when his best friend strolled into the kitchen shirtless, cock still half hard and visibly pressing into his zipper. Matt blanched at the sight of him.

"Tyler, what the fuck?" Matt spat.

"What?" Tyler looked so confused, so innocent. Matt was certain that he _really_ didn't know what he had done wrong.

"You just hooked up with my _sister._ " Matt glared at his friend incredulously.

"Yeah… and?"

"There's plenty of other girls in Mystic Falls!"

"I fucked them all already," Tyler shrugged.

"But my sister, Ty? How can you possibly think that's okay? How long has this been going on?"

Tyler frowned. "I didn't know I had to ask you to get laid. You're pissed at me about fucking _you_ , which by the way, I _still_ say was some of the best sex of my life, but you'll barely even talk to me because of it. So I fucked somebody else. What's the problem?" He shrugged again, digging into the fridge for a bottle of water.

Was he serious? Could he _really_ be that clueless? Or was this his version revenge? Revenge for what? What had Matt done to deserve this! What the fuck?

"Tyler, what the fuck?!" Matt repeated.

"Okay, okay," he sighed again, rolling his eyes as if Matt were making a huge deal out of nothing. "If it bothers you so much, I'll stop fucking your sister. Happy? Since you're blaming me for your relationship failure with Little Gilbert—"

"It _is_ your fault!"

"—I bet you'd like nothing more than for me to get blue balls."

"Tyler—just… ugh." Matt released a huge huff, exhaling so many different emotions. Tyler was perpetually incorrigible. Nothing Matt had or could ever say was enough. Tyler had helped ruin the best thing that had ever happened to Matt and now he was fucking Vicki. The fuck? Did he have any sense of morals?

Maybe Matt had solitude issues. He was beginning to think he did. Why couldn't he just dump Tyler and be done with his shit? The guy wasn't a _completely_ horrible friend but _honestly…_ Matt didn't know why he continued to put up with him. He was cool to hang out with after school and on the weekends. He was always there whenever Matt needed him, he was always supportive, but then he'd go and do stupid shit like _fuck Matt's sister._

"Hey, Matty." Vicki appeared around the corner, her long wavy hair disheveled. "I thought I heard you pull up—" yet you continued to fuck "—what's going on in here?"

Tyler plastered his infamous Tyler smirk across his annoying face, folding his arms across his fit chest. "Matt seems to have an issue about us fucking."

"What? I didn't know I had to ask you to get laid. I'm sorry, _Dad._ "

"You know what? Fuck both of you. I'm leaving. I don't have to put up with this shit." And he promptly turned and stormed back out the side door only to stop in his tracks when the reality of what he was doing occurred to him, making him turn around and storm back inside.

"No! This is _my_ house! I'm not leaving! _You_ leave!"

Tyler's jaw dropped. "What? You're gonna put me out? Dude, that's not cool. I can't believe—"

"No, what's not cool is yo—"

"Okay. No one's putting anybody out," Vicki sharply interrupted, waving her hand as if she were swatting away a bug. "Matt you can't tell me who I can and can't sleep with. Tyler has a hot body and I want to fuck him. Okay? Now just to spite you and prove my point," she gripped Tyler's wrist and tugged him down the hall, "I'm gonna have sex with your best friend _again._ " And she slammed the door, shutting them up in her room.

Matt stood in the kitchen seething. How could—? Why would—? What the fuck? Just what the fucking fuck? Matt found himself turning in circles. He didn't want to leave and set a bad precedent but he didn't want to hang around either, knowing that it was _Tyler_ back there with his sister.

Images of his friend on top of his sister's naked body, between her legs forced their way into Matt's mind. He'd personally seen Tyler's dick. He knew the size of it, the girth, and he couldn't stop himself from imagining the thick appendage sliding deep into his sister's wet center, stretching her open and the thought of it infuriated Matt. He couldn't—he didn't—

"What the fuck, Ty?" Vicki's voice was muffled by walls of the house but they tumbled up the hall to Matt's ears all the same. "Are you seri…. Fuck you, asshole!"

And then Tyler reappeared around the kitchen corner pulling his T over his head. Matt had prepared his fist to punch the guy, but then his mouth opened.

"Look, dude," he sighed, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I really didn't think you'd have such a huge problem with it. Had I known, I never would've done it. I swear. I'd never let a girl come between us. I meant what I said. If you don't want me sleeping with Vicki, I won't sleep with Vicki." And with that, he turned and left out the side door, leaving Matt standing there dumbstruck.

Because he'd done it again. The guy was unpredictable. Tyler would do stupid shit like tease Matt with his perfect ass with no intentions of actually giving the ass to Matt, then he would go and do something completely selfless like _that. Had I known, I never would've done it._ How was Matt supposed to believe that? Tyler had known how much his sexual teasing had bothered Matt but he'd done it anyway. He'd done it and he'd continued to do it until he'd fucked Matt. Why was this any different?

 _If you don't want me sleeping with Vicki, I won't sleep with Vicki._ The words were so sincere. Tyler would fuck Matt even though the blonde didn't want it, but he wouldn't fuck Vicki because Matt didn't want it? That didn't even _sound_ right let alone make any sense.

Yeah, sure as much as Matt hated to admit it, he'd enjoyed sex with Tyler and Tyler knew that. He knew Matt's ticks and quirks. He had known that as much as Matt had resisted, he'd actually _wanted_ them to have sex. Tyler had been Matt's best friend for a long time. Maybe—Matt's heart almost stopped when the frightening thought occurred to him.

 _Maybe Tyler knows what I want better than I do._

—

Early the next morning Matt decided to temporarily put all thoughts of his scandalous best friend aside, and after a bit of research on _Castell something or the other_ , he used Google to locate the nearest art store that sold Faber-Castell Color and set out to a town smaller than Mystic Falls over 40 miles away. He didn't have the patience to order online and he wanted more than the set of 12 pencils the local Wal-Mart kept stocked. He discovered that the hour drive was worth it after finding the $250—sheesh! But Jeremy was worth it—set of 120 pencils at _Art's Art Artillery_ because he'd stumbled across a small store that sold helium balloons and nothing else, directly across the street from the ironically named art store.

 _Maurice: Balloons for Every Occasion._ Matt had never encountered a place that sold nothing but balloons. The shop window was filled with them. Balloons for almost everything Matt could think of, birthdays, graduations, weddings, welcome home... An old fashioned bell jingling on the door behind him announced Matt's entry and his thought of _almost_ everything he could think of turned into flat out everything he could think of.

The shop was brightly colored, a small open space with so many different balloons on the ceiling that Matt couldn't see it. Balloons of all different shapes and sizes. Pizza slices, emojis, animals, flowers, music notes… literally everything. There were framed pictures of logos and silly phrases, covering the walls, presumably ones that could be purchased on a balloon. One of them read, _Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional._ But despite all of the colors and brightness, the large sign over the counter in the back of the room captured Matt's attention.

 _We do custom balloons!_

 _Any phrases! Any logos!_

 _Emojis welcome!_

"Hi there! What can I do you for?" A surprisingly young woman appeared behind the counter. She couldn't be much older than Matt.

Matt frowned. "Are you Maurice?" Matt asked.

"The one and only!"

"Huh…" Matt grunted, frowning deeper.

"Expecting someone older?" she asked with a half grin. "Perhaps a middle aged man?"

"I guess I was," Matt admitted a little shamefully. How could this young woman own a business? Didn't you have to go to school for that kind of thing? How long had the place been there?

"Don't get your pants in a bunch," she chuckled. "I'm older than I look, but thanks for the compliment. Now. Do you wanna look around or do you want one of my custom balloons? Emojis welcome!" She cheerfully pointed to the words on the sign overhead. "I can proudly boast that I'm only person in the _state_ who prints custom balloons! Those are usually what people come in for, because I have a contract with every Wal-Mart within a 100 mile radius. Most of my pre-printed balloons can be bought there." She smiled smartly. "But you get them for a cheaper price if you come to the source of course."

Perhaps Matt was meant to wind up in that little town for a reason. "I think I want a custom one." Matt smiled as a plan formed in his mind. He could already see the words printed across the balloon. "Yeah. Custom. Two of them."


	14. Chapter 14

With the upcoming Monday, came the start of the new school year. Matt breezed through the monotonous first day classes, all of the teachers telling them what was to be expected of them and what would different from last and what would no longer be tolerated. Blah, blah. It was the same thing from every teacher in every class. He would stroll into the room and carefully choose a seat, the seat that would probably remain his for the rest of the year. So he had to be picky.

Definitely next to a window if possible. Not so far from the front of the room that he couldn't see or hear when he needed to but not too _close_ to the front of the room that he was in teachers' radar for random readers or pop questions. Then he would listen to teacher drone on about the upcoming year blah, blah, same stuff, different speaker. And at the end of every class he would file out of the room with his peers and vainly search the halls for Jeremy.

Matt only wanted to _see_ him. Just a glimpse would satisfy, but clearly the younger boy was doing a really good job at avoiding Matt. Had he learned some secret passages or something because—sheesh… Matt was almost late for his classes. Surely Jenna hadn't allowed him to stay home? Not for something as trivial as avoiding Matt?

Matt was considering sneaking into the counselor's office and digging up his schedule. But that would be too stalker-ish. Right…? How would Matt do that anyway. He guessed luring the counselor out of her office wouldn't be too hard. He could imagine himself doing it. Lying about a fight in the bathroom. "You should really go break it up! I think I saw blood!" Matt would say. Then he'd slip into the room after she'd dashed away and— No… That was just _crazy_. Matt couldn't do that. What would the counselor do when got to the bathroom, blood pressure sky high from worry, only to burst into an empty bathroom, or worse, a guy standing at the urinal? Matt would be in so much trouble. And then if she actually _caught_ him on her computer?

"You can't stay mad at me forever, Matt." Tyler whispered, snatching Matt from his thoughts.

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes. "I can try." Matt responded dully. He'd been blatantly ignoring Tyler, though the boy sat right next to him. The one class they had together and of course Tyler had came in and promptly chosen at seat at the table right next to Matt.

"Come _on,_ dude. How many times do I have to apologize?"

"Actually, I don't recall you ever apologizing," Matt snapped under his voice.

"Then I'm sorry." He dropped his voice even further and leaned a little closer to Matt. "I'm sorry I let you fuck me and ruined your relationship with Jeremy. Even though it was totally awesome sex that I would love to have again by the way."

Matt glared at him and couldn't fight the chuckle that escaped because Tyler was _so serious._ "Dude, you really need to learn how to apologize."

"Well, I don't do it often! Now can we just be friends again? You're the best person I have in my life."

"Awe… you really know what to say." Matt laid the sarcasm on thick. "Now stop talking."

"Dude come on." Tyler's brows were almost touching each other with his sincerity. "I miss hanging out with you. You keep me out of trouble."

"Shut up," Matt huffed quietly. "You're gonna get us—"

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Mathew?" The middle aged chemistry teacher tilted her blonde head quizzically, lifting a brow. " _Clearly_ it's more important than what _I_ have to say." The heads of the entire class turned, putting Matt under a spotlight.

"No, ma'am," he responded brightly. "Just had some dust in my throat." Matt coughed gently for effect then beamed at her in a way that portrayed, _I understand. I'll stop talking._ She's glared at him icily for another second, then, along with the rest of the class, she turned and continued her lecture.

"Matt please," Tyler promptly pressed on. "I've never had to beg for an—"

"Dude _shut up,_ " Mart practically seethed.

Tyler resolutely ignored him. "What if I helped you get Jeremy back? Would you forgive me then?"

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes, not only at Tyler's lack of the ability to _shut the fuck up_ , but also at that ridiculous question. "And how do you plan on doing that?" Matt scoffed.

"Is that agreement?" Matt could almost see the glow of excitement in Tyler's eyes. "Because I have an arsenal of artillery up these sleeves. Just off the top of my head, he's trying to get on the baseball team this year, right? You could talk to coach, put a good word in for Jeremy—you wouldn't tell Jeremy about it off course— and then when he's on the team, I could make sure you two wind up alone in the locker room. Sparks refly and..." Tyler trailed of beaming at Matt, clearly thinking his idea to be brilliant.

"Just off the top of your head, right?" Matt asked. Tyler nodded swiftly in agreement. "Okay good. Because that's a stupid idea."

"Hey. That's not nice. And what's wrong with that plan? Sure it needs some tweaking, but it could work."

"A _lot_ of tweaking. Even if I we do wind up alone in—"

"And that'll be detention for the both of you." The blonde stood in front of their table staring down at them severely. "I will not tolerate side conversation in my classroom." When had she even walked over there?

Matt's shoulders dropped. On the first fucking day?! He had a shift after school. _Fuck,_ he other boy slumped in his chair, frowning apologetically.

"Sorry, dude," Tyler mouthed.

Matt sighed and popped his phone out under the table.

 _not your fault. u weren't_

 _talking to urself_

Matt heard the faint buzz from the phone in his friend's pocket and Tyler dug it out, discreetly reading the message. He frowned and promptly began tapping away. But Matt was faster.

 _we'll talk more later_

 _because texting in class?_

 _WAY worse than talking and_

 _we already have detention._

Tyler nodded at the text and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. And Matt silently went over his options. He could call off from work and go to detention, lose hours and consequently much needed money, or he could skive off detention and go to work, consequently risking suspension from school and a call to his not-present mother.

"Fuck…" he mumbled.

—

Detention was a drag. It wasn't Matt's first one by far. Usually students took this time study or do homework but since Matt and Tyler were the only two lame asses to land detention on the first fucking day, they had neither of those two things to do. They simply had to sit in a stuffy room and miserably stare at each other, and the walls while their supervisor—Coach Tanner of all fucking teachers—read a book and ate Burger King and he'd already given them the long lecture on how he expected more from his star players and how the fuck had they wound up with detention on the first day?!

When the school day had ended, Matt had wasted valuable Jeremy-searching time being escorted to the dumb room by The Blonde Detention Bitch as Matt had decided to refer to her. Fortunately, being who they were—and probably because he was sick of sitting in the room himself—Coach Tanner had taken mercy on the two of them and released them after only a mere hour of purgatory, leaving Matt with just enjoy time to rush home and make it to work. But to his bitter frustration, the time he would have used trying to woo Jeremy had been wasted. So instead of giving the gift to Jeremy in person like he'd planned, Matt had to follow his contingency. He had tied the first of his two helium balloons around the package of colored pencils and left the gift on the Gilbert's doorstep. He watched the balloon sway in the wind as he drove away.

I know

I fucked up.

I'm sorry.

—

It was a warm starry night when Matt hopped the fence of the Gilbert's backyard. Fortunately they didn't have a dog or surely it would barker and gave him away. Now security lights either. They should really get some safety measures. He scooped the old fashioned beatbox he'd tossed over before him and pressed play, holding it over his head with all the hope he could muster. His heart pounded against his ribs inside his chest, much like the loud music pounded from speakers. The single note repeated a few times before the melody came, with Douglas Robb's soft voice wisping along afterwards.

 _I'm not a perfect person_

 _There's many things I wish I didn't do_

 _But I continue learning_

When the light came on Matt's heart almost stopped. When a dark silhouette appeared in the window his heart _did_ stop. The curtains drew back slightly... and there was his face, Jeremy, staring down at Matt after days of avoiding him. Matt stood there with the beatbox held high.

 _And so I have to say before I go_

 _That I just need you know_

 _I found a reason for me_

 _To change who I used to be_

 _A reason to start over new_

 _And the reason is you_

"I'm sorry, Jer!" Matt screamed out. "I'm so sorry!"

 _I'm sorry that I hurt you_

 _It's something I must live with everyday_

 _And all the pain I put you through_

Jeremy let his window up, his shirtless torso visible now. "Matt, what are you doing?!" he shouted back furiously. "Go home! You're gonna wake up the neighborhood!"

"I don't care! I'm sorry and I'll tell everybody!" Matt stood there screaming over his beatbox and knew that he must look like the desperate idiot that he was.

 _That's why I need you to hear_

 _I found a reason for me_

 _To change who I used to be_

A light came on in another part of the house as did several others in the neighboring homes. Still, Matt pressed on. He truly no longer cared who heard what, who knew when. _Everyone_ could know that he loved Jeremy Gilbert if that's what it took to get him back.

"What's going on out there?" It was Elena's sleepy voice, her head had appeared in a different window.

"N—nothing," Jeremy stammered fervently. "Go back to bed!"

"It's kinda hard to do with Hoobastank blasting loud enough to wake the stars. It doesn't sound like nothing is going on. Matt. What are you _doing?_ "

 _And the reason is you_

 _And the reason is you_

 _And the reason is you_

"Matt?" Jenna was awake now. She peered out her bedroom window as well. There were now several lights shining down on the previously dark lawn, giving anyone who cared to look a clear view of Matt standing there in a Washington Nationals jersey, with the other balloon he purchased tied to his wrist. "What are you doing?"

"I'm came to tell Jeremy how much love him!"

"Awe…" Jenna cooed. "That's so sweet! Jeremy go outside and talk to him! He's embarrassing himself for you!"

"What—wait— _what?_ What is going on here?!" Elena cried out, clearly still confused. "Since when did—"

"Matt just turn the music off!" Jeremy cried out, sounding almost as desperate as Matt.

"Only if you come outside and talk to me!" Matt shouted back. "I'll play this song on repeat all night! I won't stop until I see police lights! I want you back, Jer!"

"Go on, Jeremy!" Jenna encouraged. Matt's heart swelled out for her. He'd have to find a way to properly thank her for everything later. "Go talk to him!"

"Matt, this is crazy! People don't do this in real life! You can't—"

"Jeremy go talk to him!" one of the neighbours shouted furiously from the house behind them, startling them all.

"Fine!"

Matt's heart screamed in triumph when the boy's body disappeared from the window and less than a minute later—

 _I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do  
And the reason is you_

Jeremy stepped out the back door wearing a thin undershirt, jogging shorts and a pair of shabby sneakers. He practically stomped across the yard and Matt promptly pressed the stop button as the song faded into the trees and the neighboring lights went back out—though Matt noticed Elena's and Jenna's did not—with Jeremy approaching across the lawn with an acerbic expression.

Matt was so nervous. He felt like a sixteen year old boy about to ask his first crush out on a date. "Umm…" He chuckled foolishly and blushed at the silly sound. "One of us should say something."

"Well you're the one that drug me out here. It seems fitting that you should start," Jeremy all but spat in response.

"I don't know what to say," Matt admitted. "Honestly, I didn't plan this far ahead."

"Oh my God," Jeremy sighed, exasperated, turning on his heel. "I'm going back inside."

"Wait—no!" Matt deliberately reached out and grabbed the younger boy's hand. "Just—I'm _sorry_ , Jer. I just—Does it help if I say I'm _really, really, super_ pissed with Tyler? And myself?"

"It really doesn't," Jeremy responded blandly, attempting to tug his hand away.

"But it's the _truth_. I—I love you, Jer." Matt stammered. Then he nervously babbled on. "And I finally realized that for some _stupid_ reason I love him too, but that doesn't matter because I choose you. He _pales_ in comparison. You're good for me. You bring out the best of me. I didn't even know there was a part of me missing until you came along and—"

"Did you think this was gonna work?" Jeremy snapped. "You come by and wake up the neighborhood with my favorite song? And then spill some sweet words about how good I am?" The shorter teen seethed at him.

Matt blanched. "Jeremy, _please…"_ He was failing. His last ditch effort wasn't working. He didn't have anything else up his sleeve. Where else could he dig? He _had_ keep trying. He had—

"Well it _didn't._ "

Matt's heart plummeted with those three words. No. No, no, no, no, no.

"I opened myself up to you, Matt." Jeremy spat, his teen voice cracking with emotion. Matt could see the tears forming in the younger boy's eyes and it pained him to see them there. He never meant to hurt Jeremy. "I—you… You were my first… _everything._ And I just can't forgive you for this."

"Jeremy, please. I'm begging you. You don't know how long I—"

"No, Matt," Jeremy sighed, tugging against the larger boy's hold on his hand again. "Your sappy words—"

"Jeremy I'm not leaving tonight without your heart." Matt's voice caught in throat.

And Matt saw something steele inside the boy. "Yes you are!" He snatched his wrist in a downward motion, instantly releasing himself from Matt's stronger grip. "Your sappy words aren't going to work! I loved you, Matt! And I'm pissed with myself that I still do! But cannot—I will not let you do it again! Go HOME!"

Jeremy spun on his heel and was back inside before Matt could get out another word, leaving the blonde teen standing there in middle of the back lawn with tears streaming down his face and a balloon tied to his limp arm. It was as if Jeremy had stomped on Matt's already broken heart, shattering it into even smaller pieces.

No. Just… _no._ Where had Matt gone wrong? Why hadn't that worked? The balloon fluttered lightly in the wind.

 _And the reason is you_


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** My mistake. I realize now that Stefan should have been introduced into this fic on their first day of school. At least that's how it happened in the show. I think…. My bad. Too late now! I can't go back and write him in because once it's published, it's published. Welp! Spoiler Alert: Stefan and Damon are coming. When they do, pretend like I wrote them both into chapter 14. From this moment forward, Elena and Stefan have already met.

—

Matt had to force himself out of bed the next morning, force himself into the shower where he simply stood there, letting the streaming water fall over his body. He'd exhausted everything he could think of. Maybe he'd twisted things up so detrimentally that they couldn't be repaired. The only thing he could think to do—because the whole thing with the counselor was not an option—was Tyler's idea. as feeble as it was, it was the only reasonable—safe—thing Matt had left.

So with conflicted emotions Matt found himself making the trek across the school to Coach Tanner's office behind the locker rooms. What would he even say? _Hey coach, I need you to do me a solid. This guy I love broke up with me and he's trying to join the baseball team. Can you let him on so I can get him back?_ Matt shook his head at how crazy that sounded as he continued down the hall.

Matt had raised his hand to rap on the door when he noticed the crack in it, leaving the door ever so slightly ajar and sounds that were becoming _too_ familiar greeted him from the other side. They were moans, blatantly _obvious_ moans. A deep throaty moan that was indubitably Coach Tanner and… another… man? What the fuck?

"Oh fuck… you feel so fucking good, Coach," the other guy said. Holy shit… Coach Tanner was fucking a dude in his office! And they're left the door unlocked, and _open_ on top of that. Matt couldn't believe he'd stumbled across this.

Did they know the door was open? They _couldn't_. But Matt thought they'd double check to see if it was locked if they were going to engage in _that_ kind of activity in a public facility. As much as his gut was telling him to slowly back away, to just leave, Matt's legs pushed him forward, and he crept over to the crack in the door with wide eyes and a pounding heart.

"Oh fuck…" the softer voice repeated. Matt's eyes landed on the pair in the room and his jaw dropped. Carl Lau was fucking their coach. A lanky bespectacled Asian guy. He was a thin teen with a small acne problem.

" _...you know that asian guy, Carl Lau, in English Lit? I've always been curious about him. Maybe he could be your rebound."_ The distant almost forgotten memory tumbled across Matt's brain like it had been conjured by a genie for that specific moment. Evidently Tyler's curiosity had been in the proper place.

Carl sat in the coach's chair behind the desk with a stark naked Coach Tanner in his lap, facing the teen, his back to Matt. The cluttered desk blocked his view, but Matt could imagine how deep the boy was inside the man. He could see their bodies moving together while the grown man rode the teen's dick.

And suddenly, Matt no longer has to imagine. Coach Tanner climbed down and shoved a few things aside off half his desk, causing several books and folders to drop to to floor, then he laid his naked body out across the now empty side of the desk and, through the crack in the door, from this knew angle Matt could see _everything_.

Matt could see the pants around Carl's ankles. He could see the teen's firm little round backside in between two strong tan legs. And he could see his peer's surprisingly long and thick cock stretching open his coach's hole. Matt knew that he should go, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He couldn't make himself leave them to their private activity. Instead he continued to watch his classmate's long dick disappear into a tiny hole over and again.

"Fuck me, Carl," Coach Tanner mumbled, his face contorted with pleasure. "I love your dick. It's so thick." Coach Tanner's thick untouched cock was rock solid and leaking, flopping with their motion. It was such and odd sight, seeing their muscle burly couch being fucked hard by a scrawny teenager. And Matt could feel himself getting hard from the sight of it.

"I'm gonna fucking cum, Coach," Carl cried out.

"Yeah?" Coach Tanner moaned his deep moans. "Cum inside me Carl. Give me your thick load. I fucking _want_ it. I'm right behind you."

"Yeah?" Carl moaned, speeding up his thrust, making the desk scrape against the floor. Matt could hear their skin slapping together. "You gonna cum with me? Gonna bust for me?"

"Yeah… fuck me… harder… harder! Fuck!" Coach Tanner practically growled as his heavy load poured from him. It spilled out of his untouched cock like an overturned bottle. Matt took that moment to back away, while their moans were loud and he couldn't be heard. He slipped off and dashed away to his truck, calling the only person his brain was wired to call. The only person who would believe him.

"Hello?" Tyler answered. His tone suggested that he was a bit surprised to be receiving at a call from Matt but Matt didn't care. He plowed right into it.

"You are not going to believe what I witnessed!" He swooped out of the school's parking lot trying to get away from the building as quickly as possible. "Coach Tanner and Carl Lau _fucking in his office!"_

"No way!"

" _Yes_ way! I saw it with my own eyes! Carl had Coach sprawled out over his desk while he shoved into the man! I watched the entire thing! I couldn't look away. Coach came all over his chest!"

"Woah! Woah! Wait a minute! _Carl_ was fucking _Coach?!_ Like... he was the _top?_ " Tyler asked, the disbelief, the shock from the situation apparent in his voice. Matt knew Tyler couldn't believe it either.

"Yes! Dude, I _cannot_ make this up!"

"Holy shit! This is good! This is _really_ good!" Tyler exclaimed estactically.

"What? What are you talking about?" Matt responded, slowing down a bit now that he felt he was a safe enough distance away from the school.

"We can use this!" Tyler explained. "We need Jeremy on the baseball team, yes? Now we have leverage!"

Matt's stomach plummeted as his mind wrapped around what Tyler was saying. "We can't blackmail our coach Tyler." Matt whispered in the phone, as if someone could overhear him, though he was alone in his truck. "That's _crazy…_ "

"And why the hell not? You should seriously start listening to your Little Shoulder Devil. Or else you're never gonna get what you really want."

Matt pulled his trucked into the arched driveway of the Lockwoods Estates. Apparently his subconscious had took him there, to his best friend.

"Where are you?" Matt asked.

"In my room." Tyler promptly responded. "Why?"

"Just making sure," Matt answered, parking and hopping out of the truck. He was familiar with the mansion, so welcome that he didn't even knock, he just walked right into the familiar grand entrance and climbed the main staircase, following the normal route to Tyler's room.

"Why? Where are you? What are you up—" Matt hung up the phone as he opened Tyler's bedroom door. Only to find that _maybe_ he should've knocked first.

"Woah!" Matt cried on top of Tyler's, "Shit!" Tyler fumbled with his phone and dropped it. His best friend was sitting stark naked on the end of his bed, hard shiny cock in hand.

"Fuck... " Matt mumbled. "Sorry, dude—I'm—I'm just gonna go."

"No! Wait. S'nothing you haven't seen before," Tyler stammered. "You just—just surprised me. Let me put some clothes on."

"Why was your door unlocked?" Matt asked. "And you were talking to me while you were touching yourself?" he tacked on incredulously.

"Because no one ever burst into my room around here!" Tyler's dick was still shining and standing straight up as he slipped over to his dresser dresser to dig out some shorts. "And yes! I was rubbing one out when you called and interrupted me! What? Was I supposed to stop?"

 _Yes!_ Matt thought as he tried and failed not to look at his friend's naked body. It looked just as Matt remembered, toned and sexy, abs like a washboard. They long thick cock of his was stiff and shining from lube. Matt could see a bit of precum dripping from the head.

"You miss looking at this body?" Tyler asked, amusement in his tone. Matt snatched his eyes back up to his friend's face at those words, realising that he'd been caught ogling. Tyler turned away from the dresser and stepped over to Matt, his cock still standing at attention. "It sure looks like you do." He gestured down to Matt's shorts and sure enough—

Matt looked down at the tent. Fuck where had that coming from? When he looked back up at Tyler, the raven haired boy was standing directly in front of him.

" _This_ guy is giving you away." Tyler groped Matt's stiff member for emphasis and fuck did it feel good under his palm. But no… Matt couldn't do this with him anymore. He had to leave. He knew that if he stayed, Tyler would do his magic thingy again.

"No, stop," Matt mumbled, gently brushing the hand away from his groin. "I should go." He turned and hastily attempted to retreat, but a strong hand closed around his wrist.

"No. I won't stop. Because I know you want this." The hand spun him around and Tyler was kissing him…. and it was amazing, fuck, it was amazing. Matt inadvertently pulled the slightly shorty teen closer to him, feeling Tyler's erection against his leg.

"Dude just take your fucking clothes off," Tyler mumbled into the Matt's lips, snatching his shirt over his head and promptly slamming their mouths back together. He made quick work of Matt's short buttons and the garment fell to the floor. Tyler promptly dropped to his knees and—

 _Fuck! How did he even get it out of the hole of my boxers that fast?_ Matt thought. His rock solid cock was already enveloped in warm Tyler Lockwood mouth. The raven haired boy wasted no time. He immediately swallowed Matt, wrapping his lips around the base of the appendage, eliciting a sharp moan from the boy.

Matt heard the bedroom door close behind him and knew that Tyler must've given it a shove.

"Take these off too," Tyler moaned, tugging Matt's boxers down his thighs, making the cock spring as it popped out of the hole. and threw them to Matt watched silently, frozen in place as his friend promptly engulfed him down again and it was moments later that he felt Tyler's fingers between his ass cheeks, pressing against his hole. Holy fuck…

"I'm gonna fuck you so good, Matty." _Holy fuck…_ "Dude I miss your ass. This is all I've been able to think about. Come here." Matt let Tyler tug him over to the plush bed, pushing Matt down onto his back and promptly and promptly climbing between the taller teen's legs.

Tyler's cock was still slick with lube and it slid home, slowly and sensually. The stretch was familiar. Tyler's thick dick opened Matt up in way that he hated to admit he loved. The raven haired teen slowly pulled out until only his plump head remained sheathed, then he reimmersed himself in tight warmth again.

The moan Matt emitted was unstoppable.

"Yeah? Tell me you like it, Matty," Tyler moaned, continuing his sensual pace. "I know you do. Tell me how much you want this."

And maybe it was the long dick inside him pulling the words out, but found himself spluttering the truth into Tyler's ear.

"Oh my god, I love your dick..." He wrapped his legs and arms around his best friend, pulling him closer, latching onto him like a leach. "It's so thick… You feel so fucking good inside me." Matt was practically writhing under Tyler's weight.

"You done fighting me?" Tyler asked dicking Matt deep. Matt could feel the thick appendage sliding along inside him. "We can fuck like this _everyday,_ Matty. If you would just stop fighting me." Tyler rocked on his friend, shoving himself as deep as he could.

"Tyler _fuck…_ " Matt was a little embarrassed by that moan. Tyler had grazed against that sweet spot inside of him and the sound had come out a little high pitched than normal. Matt couldn't fight it. It had almost sounded a little feminine.

"Yeah? This dick has you whining like a little _bitch,_ " Tyler practically growled while he thrusted into Matt. And try as he may, the blonde couldn't stop the sounds he emitted. They came out high and muffled in hits attempt to silence them. "Yeah. Just like that. Moan for me Matty. Feels so fucking good? This thick cock inside you? Mmmm…. fuck. You're gonna make me come, Matty." Tyler's voice had turned into a deep aroused grunt, his thrusts becoming swifter, rougher. "Fuck… Here it is. I'm coming, Matty. You want it? You want my thick load?"

"Yes, Ty… Fuck. Come inside me. Fill me up. Fuck, fuck, _fuck…_ " There it was. Matt could feel the warm liquid spilling inside of him. It shot out of Tyler like a ball from a cannon, exploding into Matt's insides. "Oh my God, Ty, yes." Matt could feel his own climax approaching, right on time. It was as if his body was reacting to the thick liquid inside him. "Keep going Ty… Fuck me… Don't stop…"

Tyler was pounding into Matt now, as he released himself inside of his friend. The sound of their skin slapping together filled the room. Matt clutched onto Tyler, wallowing in the feeling of the cock sliding in and out of his tight hole until— "Fuck…" Matt was coming. His jizz spilled out between their warm bodies. Matt trembled under his friend, muffling his ecstatic cry.

"That was so good," Tyler sighed, grinning down at Matt after they'd spent themselves. Matt could feel the cock softening inside of him but Tyler didn't pull out. He simply gazed into Matt's eyes for a second. As if he were searching for the answer to the mystery that was life. Then he he spoke the most startling sentence Matt had ever heard him say.

"I don't want you to go back to Jeremy," he whispered.

Matt's eyes almost fell out of his head. Wait what? Well that was completely unexpected.

"What?" Matt's brows bunched together. "What happened to you helping me get him back?"

"I just said that because I wanted you to stop being angry with me. But I don't really want that. I like fucking you Matty and I don't want you to feel guilty when we do it."

Matt froze under his friend. "Tyler I—We can't—I _love_ him, Ty. You know that."

"And know that you love me, too. Or else you wouldn't let me do these things to you."

What? Where was this even coming from? "Tyler I thought you—I didn't even know you—"

"It's okay," he interrupted, placing a finger over Matt's lip and reaching down to pull out with his other hand. Matt winced a little from the sensitivity of it. "I just wanted you to know how I feel. Just think about it. Okay?"

Matt stared into his eyes, just as Tyler had gazed into his moments before. When had this happened? Wasn't Tyler fucking Vicki yesterday? And now he wanted... what? What did he want from Matt?

"Okay," Matt whispered.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I really don't like how this one turned out... But oh well. Here's the next chapter. We've caught up with episode 1 of the TV show and after this, things are about to go way left field. So just forget that you ever watched the show. :)**

A part of Matt didn't even want to be there. Correction. _Most_ of Matt didn't want to be there. But apparently, there was some unspoken rule mandating the quarterback attend "traditional" social events. Well, according to Tyler, who had drug Matt here in the first place. Another one of the Mystic Falls' bonfires. This one celebrating the start of a new school year. Whatever. Another excuse for the Timberwolves to get wasted is what it was. Had Matt not known that Jeremy wouldn't pass up the free beer, he would've left already. Better yet, he would've never let Tyler make him come.

But alas! He was certain—or at least he hoped—that Jeremy was around, probably under a secluded tree somewhere alone with a solo cup in his hand. Matt wanted to put all of his effort into searching for the teen, but most of it was being wasted fending off the unwanted advances of the many teenage girls that vied for his attention. Most of them were girls who had never said anything beyond "hi" to Matt since kindergarten or "can I borrow a pencil?"

It appeared that Matt's broken-heart was supposed to have mended over the summer, because girls weren't letting that stop them anymore, no matter how hard Matt attempted to continue using it as an excuse. And to make matters worse, Tyler had let Vicki drag him off somewhere so they could 'talk', so Matt couldn't even use him as a buffer. Fortunately, Matt was able to scoop up Bonnie and Caroline to use them as a buffer instead.

"How are you feeling?" Caroline asked after Matt had found the two talking near the bonfire.

"I'm great," Matt shrugged, smiling. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's okay Matt," Caroline responded consolingly. "It's just Bonnie and me. You don't have to put on a brave for us."

 _Oh yeah,_ Matt remembered, _I'm still supposed to be riding out my heart break._

Matt sighed in mock defeat. "I can't ever get one over on you can I?"

"Of course you can't," she smiled, squeezing his shoulder affectionately. "It was foolish to try."

"She's right," Bonnie agreed. "You don't have to pretend with us. Honestly, we're both _strong_ advocates of Matt and Elena." Caroline nodded vehemently in agreement. "We tried all summer to talk her into taking you back. We don't even know why she ende—"

"Hi Matt," a tiny female voice stammered, cutting Bonnie short. Matt peered to his left where the voice had originated to find a short relatively fat girl with shoulder length hair standing next to him. Her hair cupped her blushing face giving it a soft appeal that actually made her look attractive.

"Um—I just wanted to say hi and um—and uh—now that I've said that, I wondering if you maybe wanted to talk over a—"

"Okay. First of all," Caroline snapped fiercely, ticking off the note with her index finger, "don't interrupt people when they're talking. I'm sure your mother taught you better than that. Second," she ticked off the next note with her middle finger, "don't stammer so much. It's _so_ unattractive. You'll never get a guy talking like that. And third," she continued with finality in her tone, looking over the girl's slightly pudgy figure. "I commend your bravery, but the fact you think you have a shot with the school's quarterback is laughable."

The girl's jaw dropped and she turned a deep crimson before turning and scampering away.

"Caroline that was so _mean,_ " Bonnie reprimanded. "Clearly she just built up the nerve to come and talk to him! That girl is probably about to go cry her eyes out!"

"That wasn't mean, it was the blunt truth," Caroline shrugged. "And she deserves to cry after attempting something so foolish. What she just did wasn't courageous, it was stupid. She set herself up for that."

"Oh my God, I honestly don't…" Bonnie trailed off, eyes filled with disbelief. "How can you even defend yourself? You shouldn't even—"

But Matt wasn't listening anymore. He'd just spotted Elena with that new guy. What was his name? Stephen? He watched the two of them walk off towards the woods together looking all happy-go-lucky. Maybe that's the reason chicks were all over Matt like flies on horse shit. If Elena was ready to move on it would go to assume that Matt was too right?

Honestly the two of them looked cute together. If Matt didn't have a role to play as a distraught ex, he would wish them well, and encourage their budding relationship. But of course, he would now have to pretend to not like Elena's new flame even though he didn't even really know the guy. Matt huffed a deep sigh as he watched the two of them continue their affectionate little walk. This entire pretense thing was beginning to get exhausting. He tipped his beer up to his lips again, only to find the bottle empty.

"—and I just say what's on my mind. It's not my fault that people can't handle it."

"Can you walk with me to get another beer, Care?" Matt asked, evidently interrupting their bickering. "I might need your brutality to fend off another one of my many admirers."

Caroline frowned and huffed at him like the moody teenage girl she was, making Matt grin at how angry she looked. Like an upset little kitten.

"I am _not_ brutal!" she snapped, slapping his shoulder.

"Wow! Brutal _and_ violent," Matt teased.

"Oh my God! Is this how you treat everyone you ask for a favor?" She tossed her hands on her hips and glared at Matt fiercely. "Because if it is, it's no surprise why you—"

And quite suddenly there was a surge of motion. People scrambled away from each other, bumping elbows as they made way for… what? What was going on? Matt looked around confused, then locked eyes with Bonnie, who shrugged, clearly just as confused and curious as he was. Then suddenly—

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Elena screamed. Wait? What? Call an ambulance? Oh fuck… Some idiot had gotten drunk and hurt himself.

"Something bit her! She's losing a lot of blood!" Okay. Not a him. Matt's brows scrunched closer together. The fuck?

"Everybody step back! Give her some space!" Matt couldn't see him, but that was unmistakably Tyler's voice. Who did Tyler care about enough to delegate orders? Matt forced his way through the commotion, his chest tightening with every shifting body. And as the crowd cleared... his heart dropped.

Because Vicki was lying bloody and unconscious in Jeremy's arms.


	17. Chapter 17

"Vicki?" Matt's head snapped up. He'd been sitting next to her hospital bedside for over a day now without leaving for anything but the bathroom and she hadn't made any movement. But Matt was certain that she just did. "Vicki?" he asked again, climbing up from his chair and stepping closer to the bed this time, where she lay comfortably under blankets, her neck heavily bandaged. And to Matt's compete delight, his sister's eyes fluttered open.

"Vicki!" It was no longer a question now, his voice filled with relief and he dashed out of the hospital room. "Nurse! Nurse!" He dashed up to the desk, slapping on it to get someone's attention.

"My sister woke up!" Matt was elated that the woman's sense of urgency appeared to be as great as his when she abruptly leapt from her chair and followed him back to the room.

"Ms. Donovan?" she asked, wielding her stethoscope. "How are you feeling? You've been out for a while."

"Ummm… have I?" She asked groggily. "It feels like I just closed my eyes after a vampire—wait... Vampire..." And then she seemed to snap wide awake, as if someone had stuck an alarm clock to her ear. She sprang up into a sitting position in the bed.

"Vampire!" Her voice was vehement. She spoke with clear determination now. "I was attacked by a vampire!"

"I'm sorry?" the nurse said, scrunching her brows together and tilting her head to the side as if she hadn't heard Vicki properly.

What was Vicki going on about?

"What?" Matt asked, just as confused as the nurse.

"A vampire attacked me in the woods!" Vicki pressed. "I was headed back home after arguing with Tyler and a vampire attacked me."

"Vicki, what are you talking about?" Matt asked, growing concerned for his sister. "Vampire's aren't real."

"Are you sure you didn't have a nightmare sweety?" the nurse asked affectionately, as if she were speaking to a confused child."You've been asleep for a while."

"No!" Vicki spat angrily. "I didn't have a nightmare! I was attacked by a vampire! He was tall and vicious, with fangs like a leopard and hair and dark as the night. He attacked me and—"

The nurse's eyes seemed to grow wider and wider with every hysterical word. "I'm going to get the doctor," she said, scampering away from the room.

"Vicki are you okay?" Matt asked, actually growing a little frightened for his sister. He stepped closer to the bed and placed the back of his hand across her forehead. Maybe it was fever induced hallucination. But she slapped his hand away.

"You have to believe me Matty!" She stared into his eyes desperately. And Matt stared back. His concerned filled eyes pierced into his sister's crazed ones… and he knew that, whether it had actually happened or not, his sister's thoroughly believed that she'd been attacked by a vampire.

"Okay," Matt sighed affectionately. "I believe you. We'll discuss this more when you get out of here. But until then, you gotta stop talking like that okay?"

"What?" Vicki said historically. "No! We have to warn people! This man is on the loose! He's still out there! Next time he might actually—"

"Vickie you have to stop talking like that," Matt repeated more urgently the time, his fear for his sibling growing. "If you don't these people are going to lock you in an asylum or something."

"But—but, Matty," she stammered. "You can't let them—I can't—we have to—" She paused looking utterly distraught as she lay there hyperventilating. "But you believe me don't you?" She whispered.

" _Yes,_ " Matt reassured her, more firmly this time. _I believe that you believe you were attacked by a vampire._ "But these people won't. Their gonna think you're crazy and lock you up." _Hell, a part of_ me _thinks you hit your head a little too hard._

"Ms. Donovan?" Matt peered over his shoulder. It was an older woman now in a white robe followed by the same nurse from before. "How are you feeling?"

Vicki peered up at the entering doctor. Then she glanced over at Matt with shifting eyes. Matt glared back at his sister, silently _begging_ her to listen to him for a change.

"Umm… I… My thoughts are still a little fuzzy but I think I'm okay," Vicki answered, her groggy toned from earlier suddenly returning.

The doctor smiled. "That's a side effect from the massive blood loss you suffered. We had to give you a transfusion."

Matt caught the quick almost-not-there glare Vicki gave him and he construed the meaning easily. _How did I lose so much blood, Matty? Where did it all go?_ Matt also caught the sideways glance the doctor have the nurse.

"Can you tell us what a attacked you, Ms. Donovan?" the doctor asked, tilting her head in a concerned way.

"Um…" Vicki glanced at Matt again. "It was a bear," she responded softly. Matt released the breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding.

"A bear?" the doctor asked, lifting a dubious eyebrow. She blatantly looked over at the nurse this time, who stood there staring at Vicki with wide eyes.

"Yes," Vicki said, more confidently this time. "A bear. It was a big black bear, as dark as the night. I was walking through the woods, taking a shortcut home after arguing with a friend and a massive bear attacked me."

Hearing his sister say she'd been attacked by an animal was like honey to Matt's ears. And Matt thought about how weird of a situation he must be in if hearing those words was relieving to him. When did his life get so confusing and complicated?

"Well, we've already administered a technical shot as a precaution and the blood transfusion was a textbook procedure. It went without a hitch. You should be nvm on your feet in no time. I'm gonna go look over some of your paperwork and I'll be right back." She turned to leave and the nurse scrambled out after her, with a familiar face slipping into the room as they excited. Matt's heart leapt into his chest.

"Hey, Jer!" Matt wouldn't be surprised if the smile on his face didn't get stuck like that. "Thanks for coming." He scooped the boy into a hug and shrunk a little when the hug was returned half heartedly. That was mildly depressing, but Matt didn't let it deflate him completely because Jeremy was still there and that meant something.

"Yeah, yeah," the boy grunted. "I'm still pissed with you. Okay? I'm just not so pissed that I could leave you up here alone with a hospitalized sister." He pulled himself from Matt's arms. "So don't start spouting to me about how sorry you are."

Well. He couldn't leave Matt alone. That was a start. Right? That meant that deep down, there was a hole that still cared. And that little hole was enough for Matt to worm his way back into Jeremy's heart.

"Okay. No more apologies," Matt beamed. "I'm just happy you're here."

"Whatever," Jeremy sighed. "I can't be _too_ mean to you. Because I kind of need a ride home."

"What?" Matt chuckled.

"Yeah. Jenna dropped me off, but she had a house to show. So I was presumptuous enough to assume that you wouldn't mind giving me a ride home." Jeremy then purposefully folded his arms, turning to Matt abruptly. "But I will _walk_ home and we both know that. I don't _need_ you to do anything for me. I've been getting—"

And seeing the boy snap so suddenly was just so cute for some reason. Matt forgot where he was, forgot what was happening. He cupped Jeremy's head and pulled their lips together, effectively silencing him. It was a tender kiss, soft and gentle. It seemed to last a lifetime. When Matt pulled away, Jeremy actually looked a little flustered and short winded.

"You can't do that anymore, abruptly kiss me like that," Jeremy whispered, though he made no move to step away from Matt.

"I don't see you stopping me," Matt whispered back. "We both know you don't do anything you don't want to."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean—"

Matt kissed him again, silencing him once more, backing the teen into the closed hospital door. _God_ he missed Jeremy's lips. He wanted to devour the boy right there. He probably would have if—

"Okay, you're still in a hospital and I'm still in the room," Vicki chuckled, making the two of them pull apart and casting Jeremy to turn a deep shade of crimson.

"Umm… I should go," he mumbled, obviously completely embarrassed. "I just came to check up on the two of you and your find so…" He grabbed the door handled in a hasty retreat.

"But you just got here," Matt complaint, sounding petulant, almost like a child. "And you don't have a ride. Remember? I'm not letting you walk home Jeremy," Matt grabbed his wrist. "It's too far. And it's dark out there. I'll stop. Okay? No more advances from me. Just don't leave."

Jeremy glared at him for a second.

"I swear."

Jeremy's eyes narrowed… "Fine. Jenna wanted me to ask if you'd eaten anything."

"Probably not," Vicki answered, speaking up again. "Knowing him, he's probably been at my bedside the entire time."

Matt frowned at her. "Only _you_ can make that sound like a bad thing."

Vicki huffed. "Matt I love you and I appreciate the sentiment but go eat something. Please. And see if you can sneak me a cheeseburger or something good back while you're at it."

Matt chuckled. "Okay. I'll be right back."

Yeah. She was fine. Without any more words, he followed Jeremy out the door and out of the silent hospital. It was only when they were almost back to town that Matt realized. He finally had Jeremy alone. They'd been riding along silently This entire time. This was his chance to win him back. He'd already kissed Jeremy once today and that had gone over well. Right?

Matt silently hit signal light and pulled over to the side of the quiet dark rode.

"What are you doing?" Jeremy asked, slightly startled.

"Seizing the moment," Matt chuckled nervously, cutting the engine."I've been trying to get you alone for over a month now and you've been avoiding me. I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me."

"Matt," Jeremy asked, annoyed. "Can we not do this? Can you just take me home?"

"Why'd you let me kiss you, Jer? Why did even come? When you knew you'd wind up alone in this truck with me?"

"Matt," Jeremy sighed again. "Just take me—"

And Matt kissed him again, shutting him up like he'd done before. Jeremy wasn't fooling anyone. He wanted this. He wanted them. Amd Matt was going to make him admit it to himself.

"No, Matt," Jeremy said, feebly attempting to push the older teen away. "Stop. Take me home."

"No, I won't stop." Woah. That was a bit uncanny. But it didn't stop Matt. He was too far gone. And Jeremy wasn't putting up enough of a fight. "I won't stop because I know you want this." And with that, Matt lifted Jeremy's adolescent weight and gently deposited the boy in his lap, attacking the smaller teen's mouth in the process.

Through their jeans, Matt could feel Jeremy's cock, already stiff pressed against his own member, just as hard. _Fuck_ , Jeremy's dick was long. Matt reached down to grope the boy but his hands found their way to Jeremy's button instead. He popped it open and swiftly worked the zipper down, reaching his hand in to wrap his fingers around flesh.

Jeremy gasped. "Matt…"

"Yeah?" Matt dry pumped the cock in fist.

"Don't stop Matt," Jeremy sighed, crushing their mouths together again. He rocked his hips, thrusting himself into Matt's pumping hand. "Jeep touching me like that." _Oh I'm about to touch you alright._

"Take your pants off for me, Jeremy." The boy promptly responded. It wasn't the easiest task in the cab of Matt's truck, but Jeremy kicked off his shoes and shimmied out of his pants and underwear while Matt freed his own aching member, tugging his pants down to his ankles and he stuck a finger in his mouth. Jeremy then climbed back into the blonde's lap and rubbed their dicks together.

At first he simply gasped when the wet finger wiggled its way inside of him. Then he froze. This was new territory for them. They'd never breached each other before. Deciding to move things forward before they could stop, Matt promptly curled his finger inward, searching for the spot he knew was there, biting his lip with the effort. It didn't take long and—

Jeremy gasped, squirming, his eye popping wide. "Oh my God, do that again!" Matt smiled and happily wriggled his finger against the little knot inside the squirming boy. " _Mnnngh_ , fuck…" Jeremy groaned shutting his eyes in pleasure and grinding on Matt's finger.

Matt silently coughed up a loogie while he worked another finger inside of Jeremy, making the boy squirm harder. Matt spatt the glob in his hand and slowly rubbed it around his dick. The loogie mixed with his precum making everything slip perfectly. He really hoped he wasn't taking things too far too fast. But he hadn't got this close to let the moment slip away. Jeremy would stop him if he really didn't want to do it. Matt slowly removed his fingers, ceasing the finger fucking.

"Why'd you stop?" Jeremy asked almost desperately. "That felt good. Put them back—" He froze when he felt the hard cock in between his ass cheeks.

"Matt?" he asked, looking down at the older teen nervously.

"It's okay," Matt consoled. "Just be still and…" Jeremy winced when Matt's plump cock head breached him and a sigh of ecstasy escaped the older teen... because he was inside of him. Fuck. His dick was finally inside of Jeremy.

"Oh my God, Matt." Jeremy tensed as the dick slipped inside of him.

"It's okay," Matt repeated. "Just relax. You feel so fucking good." Matt slowly pulled Jeremy down on his throbbing dick until the appendage vanished inside the boy and their skin touched. When Matt bottomed out Jeremy gasped, and twitched, and his jaw fell slack, and his eyes bugged out, all at the same time. Matt grinned a knowing grin, lifting Jeremy up only to pull the boy back down and poke his cock into that place again.

"Oh fuck!" Jeremy trembled, desperately, frantically, wildly clutching at anything to stable himself in Matt's truck, only to find nothing and wrap his arms around the older teens neck instead.

Matt chuckled. "You like it?" he whispered in the boy's ear, beginning a slow and sensual pace, thrusting up into him softly, yet still making the boy take every inch of him each time. Jeremy simply moaned and spluttered in Matt's ear, clutching onto his neck. Matt gripped at the ass cheeks his thick cock slid in between over and over again, caressing the globes. "I know that you do. Tell me how much you like my dick, Jer."

Matt pumped up into the warm tight heaven that was Jeremy Gilbert. Those virgin walls clutched at Matt, gripping his dick in a way that almost drove the blonde insane. He wanted to flip Jeremy over and pound him. But his thrusts remained gentle and caring. He didn't want to hurt the boy. The ass wrapped around his dick felt incredible all same.

Jeremy didn't answer Matt. He simply continued his deep pleasurable whining moans in Matt's ear while he rode the long appendage, taking it deep inside him, letting the stiff member stretch his tight hole open for the very first time. He clutched onto Matt, moaning in ecstasy, letting the blonde gently fuck him.

Matt wasn't sure how he found the willpower, but he did and he stopped, freezing mid thrust.

"What?" Jeremy instantly perked up, staring at Matt confused. "Why'd you stop? Keep going." He wiggled his ass around Matt's dick and fuck if those tight walls didn't feel amazing, but no…

"I want you to tell me how much you like it, Jer," Matt whispered. "Tell me you want it."

Jeremy frowned and grunted a defiant sound.

" _Tell_ me, Jer," Matt pressed. "I need to hear it."

Jeremy grunted again, closing his eyes and rubbed his hips around in Matt's lap, desperate for friction, but Matt gripped the boy's waist firmly, holding him in place.

"Tell me you love me, Jeremy." Matt stared at the boy's closed eyes, practically willing them to open. When Jeremy still refused to speak, Matt slowly began to pull out of the warm tight heaven, against everything his body was telling him, he lifted Jeremy off of him.

"Wait! No!" Jeremy's eyes snapped open and he clutched onto to Matt tighter. "I love you. Okay?" It hurt Matt to hear how much it pained Jeremy to admit it. "I hate it but I love you so fucking much. You know that. And I love your dick inside me. I love how it fills me up. Now let me just…" he fought at the hold Matt had on his hips and, having obtained what he wanted, Matt released him.

And Jeremy was off. He lifted his ass and dropped it on Matt's dick. He rocked on it, turned on, twisted on it, swirled in it. Matt smiled. It was like they were in the woods beside the river all over again. Jeremy was his little cock slut.

With Jeremy controlling the pace it was faster. His ass cheeks jiggled as they slapped into Matt's thighs and Matt smacked them, making them jiggle harder. The sound was almost lound in the small cab, mingling in with their moans and groans. Jeremy's ass engulfed Matt's cock, sucking it up like water in a sponge. He would lift up until nothing but Matt's tip was left, until Matt was certain that he would pop out, and then Jeremy would drop back down again, engulfing Matt in heaven again. Jeremy's tiny little hole was stretched wide from Matt's thick dick. Matt wanted his cock to stay inside of the boy forever.

He looked down at Jeremy's hard, leaking dick flopping in between them, ignored while the boy was fucked and thought it was the most glorious sight. Jeremy was so hard for him and he hadn't even been touched. Deciding to change that, Matt reached between them and gripped Jeremy's long cock, making the boy hiss with pleasure while he continued to pummel himself on Matt's dick. Matt used Jeremy's precum to stroke the long dick he'd missed so much, making the boy moan louder on top of him.

"Fuck, Matt… I'm coming… keep touching me like that… _fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck…_ " Jeremy tensed, his body locking like a stuck gear and his asshole clenched around Matt's dick as the thick liquid launched itself from the boy, splattering across Matt's shirt. Matt didn't even care. He would change it before he went back to the hospital. He was more focused on the tight channel gripping his dick. Matt fucked up into the boy, relishing in his velvety walls until—

"Fuck!" Jeremy cried out again. He was still coming himself, thick ropes spouting from the boy but— "I can feel it! I can feel your jizz inside me." He stared down at Matt in complete amazement. "You're coming inside of me, Matt. Oh my God…"

"I am," Matt grunted. "I'm filling you up. You make me feel so good, Jer." He pumped up into the younger teen until both of them relaxed exhausted.

It wasn't until the happy moment was over and they sat complete and blissful in Matt's truck did he think about his promise to Tyler, his promise to think about what he wanted. While Matt sat there with the boy he indubitably loved without question, rubbing the back of his head, his still hard cock still nestled inside the boy, he thought about Tyler's perfect body and the amazing sex they'd had together. Three times already. Matt huffed a sigh.

 _Fuck. What am I gonna do?_


	18. Chapter 18

"Don't you get tired of eating here?" Jeremy smirked.

"The Grill? _N_ _ever._ " Matt smiled, scooping the bag of burgers up from the counter. "I gained 15 pounds in 3 weeks after I started working here. Took me 2 months to burn them back off."

Jeremy smirked. "Okay, I'll admit that the food here is pretty good but _fifteen pounds?_ "

"I had a double cheeseburger with bacon on my lunch break almost everyday," Matt chuckled.

"That sounds awesome," Jeremy responded chuckling along with the older teen. "So much bacon…"

Matt folded the corners down on the little paper takeout bag The Grill used as he and Jeremy passed through to the exit.

"...maybe take a dip in the pool." A familiar voice drifted into his ear. Looking over towards the sound, Matt saw Carl Lau and—

"Coach Tanner," Matt lilted, surprised. "What's up?" Out in public with the student he's fucking. Interesting.

The middle aged man glanced up at the sound of his name. "Donavan," he responded cheerfully. "There's my quarterback." The coach looked genuinely surprised to see Matt even though all of Mystic Falls and probably the next town over as well, knew the blonde worked there. "You been working on that arm over the summer?"

"You know I have," Matt lied, eyeing the table between his coach and his classmate. There was a plate with a half eaten burger and fries in front of the teacher and nothing for the boy. A used napkin was crumpled up next to coach's plate and Carl sat with his phone at hand. In all appearances, it seemed as if a student had coincidently happened across his teacher while out and about and the two had struck up conversation.

But Matt knew better.

"The season's starting up soon, so you'd better prove it to me. I know I won't regret my decision."

Matt smiled at that as he looked between the two of them. What did they see in each other? Was it a relationship or just something physical? Did Coach Tanner always bottom? Because honestly Carl looked like he might like to get get dicked every now and then.

"Is something wrong, Donovan?" Coach Tanner asked, his brow lifted curiously.

"Oh, no," Matt chuckled, innocently. He hadn't even realize he'd been staring. "Just spaced out for a second there. I'm gonna head on out. Gotta get get going. See you Monday."

And with that, he tried (probably failed) not to make a hasty exit.

"What was that all about?" Jeremy asked during their retreat.

"Coach Tanner's fucking that guy," Matt whispered as they excited Grill. The way Jeremy's eyes bugged out was almost comical. Matt actually had to stop himself from laughing.

"Wait, _what?_ Are you s—" Matt grabbed the boy's head and turned it back around.

"Don't _stare_ at them," Matt chuckled. "Yes, I'm serious. I saw it myself." And while they crossed the parking lot, he promptly went into the story of how he'd caught Carl fucking Coach Tanner in the man's office, leaving out why he'd went to the office in the first place of course.

"But that's _crazy,_ " Jeremy chuckled, climbing back into the truck. "And _Carl_ was fucking _Mr. Tanner?_ "

"I know! It's crazy! But I swear I can't make this up."

"Were they like… _naked?_ " Jeremy asked curiously.

"Coach was. Starkers. He surprisingly has a nice body for middle aged guy," Matt admitted. "Carl only had his pants around his ankles. But of them have nice sized cocks…"

"Wow… I'm just trying to picture this in my head." Jeremy frowned as he dug into the takeout bag. "Carl is just so _scrawny_ you know? Picturing Mr. Tanner riding him like that is just…"

The boy trailed off as he bit into his burger.

"Oh my God… Who cooked this?" Jeremy glared at the burger as if it were a foreign entity. "So good. Thanks again for buying this," He said softly through a mouthful of burger.

"It's no problem," Matt responded with a warm smile. "You know I'll do anything for you.

Matt saw the boy's lips set in determination after those words. He sensed the snap coming just before it arrived. Jeremy took a huge almost choking swallow. "I'm still pissed with you," he spat, his brows scrunching up. "I'm pissed about what you did and now I'm pissed because you've swindled your way back into my life."

Matt turned in the cab of the truck, peering over at the suddenly furious boy despondently. He didn't know what to do anymore. He wished he could just fucking _dump Tyler._

"I know and I understand," Matt said vehemently, the sincerity in his tone palpable. "Tell me what I can do to fix it."

Jeremy was silent for a moment, his lips pressed, brows touching each other. Matt could practically _hear_ his mind churning.

"Just tell me, Jer. I still love you. I never stopped. I wanna fix this."

But the lines in Jeremy's forehead only became deeper. Staring into the boy's trepid eyes, Matt could almost sense something earth shattering coming before it was ever voiced.

"I don't want you to see Tyler anymore."

Matt blanched. "What…?" Why did that sentence stab him? Why did the thought of it coming to fruition shake his core? "But… he's—"

"I _know_ he's your best friend," Jeremy interrupted with a sigh of uncertainty. "And he has been forever. But what kind of friend fucks you? You guy have some other kind of relationship going on and honestly I don't trust him. But I don't want to give you an ultimatum. I don't want you to h—"

"Okay." The word was soft. So soft, Matt barely heard himself say it.

"Okay?" Jeremy asked dubiously, surprised Matt had dosed so easily.

"Okay." The word was mute confident that time, more determined. "If that's what you want, okay. I'll do anything for—"

The soliloquy Matt was undoubtedly headed for was abruptly interrupted by a random shout, from somewhere off behind The Grill. It was a strangled shout, as if someone were in pain. Another similar scream sent a chill down Matt's spine. The scream was a little louder this time, more ominous. Matt caught the pale face of Jeremy beside him in the cab, staring of uncertainty the direction of the scream.

"That sounds like Tyler," Jeremy cried out, alarmed. Matt was already getting out of the cab, following the grunts and screams, that Matt now realized was from more than one person.

He and Jeremy sprinted down the dark, cobbled alleyway between The Grill and neighboring building that lead to the back parking lot. The space was cramped with garbage bins and milk crates, illuminated by a single yellow light bulb and the glow from the night's full moon. Bits of litter fluttered about here and there. But what caught Matt's attention was the, source of the grunting, a dark silhouette of two figures in a fierce scuffle near the dumpster.

The smaller of the two appeared to be attempting to escape. But as Matt ran closer, he saw each attempt thwarted buy the large man until the shorter one threw a punch, with it making a loud cracking sound when it connected. Matt could see now that the shorter person was indubitably Tyler. What kind of mess had he gotten himself into now?

"Hey!" Jeremy cried out, distracting the larger man. He snapped his head around and—Coach Tanner? Why was he attacking T—? Grasping the opportune moment while the man was distracted, Tyler gripped the man's dark locs and _bashed_ his head into the dumpster, where he promptly collapsed, limp as a noodle.

"Tyler, what the fuck?!" Matt cried, reaching the scene, peering down at his motionless coach. "What happened?"

"He attacked me!" Tyler explained hysterically. "I was just going back to my truck and he charged at me! I had to do _something._ "

"Okay," Matt sighed, trying to tension calm. "Our coach is unconscious, dude. I need you to calm down and start at the—"

"He's not unconscious," Jeremy interrupted, looking up from where he'd knelt next the unmoving body. His voice was grave and ominous. "I think he's dead."


	19. Chapter 19

Matt and Tyler both blanched. It was as if someone had turned off all the sound. The full moon shined down, casting its glow on them as if nothing was wrong, as if their world wasn't shattering.

"Dude… don't joke," Tyler said, his voice small. He appeared to be on the verge of panic.

"I'm _not,_ " was Jeremy's adamant response. "He isn't breathing. See for yourself." Jeremy gestured to their apparently dead coach.

"No! I don't wanna touch him! I've done some pretty fucked up shit but this takes the cake! I don't know how my dad's gonna talk me of of this one! I could go to prison! This is manslaughter! I'm gonna... fuck…" Tyler abruptly talked off from his paniced rant, clutching at his chest. "Mnnngh… _fuck…_ " He doubled over clutching at the spot, taking sharp breaths through his nose, his face suggesting he was emenduring the most severe case of heartburn anyone had ever encountered.

"You okay, dude?" Jeremy asked cautiously, peering up from where he still knelt next to the body.

"I don't know," Tyler answered, his voice tight. "My heart just randomly sped up—FUCK!" He dropped to his knees, curling into a ball, still clutching his chest.

"Tyler what the fuck?" Concern forced Matt's eyebrows to touch. He rolled his friend over onto his back where the boy's eyes were clenched shut in obvious agony. "Dude, what happening?"

"I don't know! It hurts! My whole body hurts! I don't—argh!"

"Fuck!" Matt watched in horror as his best friend's arm snapped and twisted in an unnatural angle on its own accord, ripping the boy's shirt in the process. " _Fuck!_ It _hurts!_ " Tyler's screaming voice cracked as tears shed. His bones continued to snap in various angles. He hissed and panted through the pain.

"Tyler what the fuck?!" Matt didn't know what to do. What _could_ he do?

"Fuck!" Tyler's blood curdling scream sent chills down Matt's spine. It was his leg that time. Tyler's leg had snapped and folded itself inward. "What's happening to me?!"

"Oh my God!" Jeremy cried. "Should we call somebody? We should call somebody," the boy said, clearly panicking as well. "There a dead body. Tyler's having some kind of seizure. We can't handle this on our own, Matt."

Matt ran his fingers through his hair trying to think. His heart pounded away while he watched his friend continue to scream in agony, his figure contorted awkwardly on the ground, his clothes fell from his body in shreds until—wait. Were those fangs? Was that… _fur?_ Tyler looked like Tyler, but he… _didn't…_ Then. Quite suddenly.

There was a large snarling grey wolf standing amidst Tyler's shredded clothes. Thick saliva dripped from its mouth as it growled, baring it razor sharp fangs at them.

Matt tensed, frozen in place. He could feel Jeremy do the same beside him as the younger teen slowly rose to his feet, all eyes locked on wolf.

"What in the actual _fuck…?_ " Jeremy's face was so pale it almost matched the moon. "Did Tyler just turn into a fucking wolf?!"

The tense atmosphere had made a drastic turn in seconds. The wolf's silver eyes flicked between the boys as if it was deciding who it wanted to eat first.

"Jer, don't move…" Matt hissed, still frozen in place.

"Dude, what are we gonna do?" Jeremy ahead, his tone laced with fear. "We can't stand here forever."

And of course he was right. But Matt couldn't think. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what was actually _fucking_ happening. "Tyler?" He asked the wolf hesitantly. A deep, sharper growl was the wolf's only response, making Matt jump back timidly.

"Okay, Jer," he whispered, as if speaking too loudly would set the animal off. Never taking his eyes off of it, he pressed on. "This is what we're going to do. On the count of three, I want you run back to the truck. I left the keys in the ignition—"

"Matt, I'm not leaving you here!" Jeremy started vehemently.

"Just hear me out!" Mat pressed, silencing the younger teen. "I want you run back to the truck," Matt continued as the feral animal growled, fangs still bared, "and I'm gonna run that way, to the other parking lot. We'll confuse it. It can't chase both of us. Swoop around the building, I'll hop in the bed, and we'll speed out of here."

"That's a stupid idea," Jeremy spat bluntly, keeping his eyes on the animal as well. "Neither of us can outrun a wolf. Whoever it chases after is going to die, giving the other time to escape."

"Do you have any brighter ideas?" Matt snapped back. "Because I'm all ears!"

Jeremy simply growled a furious frightened growl in response. "What if it chases after me? Huh?! Your plan won't work if I die!"

"One!" Matt cried in response, his heart attempting to beat it's way out of his chest.

"Wait! No—Matt this isn't gonna work!"

"Two!"

"Oh my God, we're both gonna die." Jeremy sounded on the verge of tears.

"Go!"

"Fuck!"

The two teens simultaneously split in the narrow alleyway. Matt intentionally kicked a patch of dirt at the animal as he dashed off. "This way you little fuck!" he cried.

His heart leapt when the animal chased after him. Yes! But Matt couldn't allow himself to wallow in that small victory. He had to remain focused. But he couldn't do that when something silver caught his eye. It was Tyler's car keys. They must've fallen from his pocket when his clothes shredded. Matt's heart leapt again as he scooped the keys up in his hasty retreat. He snatched the dumpster behind him as he ran.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" The word fell from his mouth in time with the pound of his heart and the slap of his foot smacking the ground. He heard the wolf whine a strangled sound when it hit the dumpster. Knowing that wouldn't slow it down long, Matt flung milk crates in his wake as well. He impulsively caught one of the crates in his fist, and took it with him as he fled.

He burst out of the alleyway into the back parking area full speed, pressing the button on the key fob so hard he feared he would break the thing.

 _Bleap, bleap,_ the caution lights flashed.

There was Tyler's little coupe, a few cars down. But Matt could hear the wolf growling, gaining on him by the second. It would pounce any moment. Without breaking his stride, Matt spun on his heel, as if he were dodging someone on the football field, and flung the milk crate at the wolf. Matt had spun back around, dashing to car again, before the crate could fully leave his hand, but the sharp crack, and high pitched whine confirmed his success.

Bright headlights blared from the other end of the parking lot along with skidding breaks and Jeremy barrelled down the lane going a speed that would give Sheriff Forbes a heart attack. But change of plans. Matt hopped in the convertible and swiftly reversed out of the parking space, narrowly missing the still snarling wolf. It snapped at the car as Matt sped up the lane headed toward truck that was speeding towards him. He leaned out the window as he came closer to the truck that undoubtedly wouldn't have made it to him in time had he not found Tyler's car keys.

"Go, go, go!" He screamed waving his arms wildly. He caught Jeremy's eye as they barreled passed each other, spinning out of opposite ends of the parking lane.

—

When Matt pulled in front of his house and cut the engine of Tyler's little coupe, he found his truck already in the driveway. Jeremy promptly hopped out of it.

"Dude how did you get his keys?!" he asked, throwing himself into Matt's arms. "I thought you had died when I cut around the building and didn't see you!"

"They must've fallen out of his pocket or something," Matt rubbed the shorter teen's back consolingly. "I scooped them up as I ran away."

"What the fuck just happened?!" Jeremy cried, pulling himself from the blonde's arms.

"Come on." Matt grabbed the boy's wrist, tugging him along. "Let's go inside." He pulled them in and locked the door behind him.

"What are we gonna do?" Jeremy asked hysterically. "We witnessed a murder! Then your friend turned into a _wolf!_ People don't just turn into fucking wolves, Matt!"

"Calm down and let me think," Matt sighed, pacing the small living room.

"Think about what?" Jeremy asked furiously. "Tyler killed our coach! We have to tell someone!"

"Who's gonna believe us?" Matt asked, the words ringing in his ears like deja vu. Maybe his sister wasn't as crazy as she sounded. "Tyler murdered Coach and then turned into a fucking wolf—wait minute…" Matt froze mid pace, his eyes the size of quarters as the situation crashed on him. His spine froze for the umpteenth time that night.

"We have to go back," Matt whispered.

"Dude are you crazy?! We only _just_ managed to escape! We can't go—"

"We have to go back!" Matt pressed adamantly. "We left a _dead body_ in an alley! Tyler's shredded clothes are there. With his phone! And his wallet! His _driver's license!_ We can't leave that there!"

"What do you mean? Of _course_ we can," Jeremy spat. " _Tyler_ killed him. _Tyler_ got himself into this mess. We don't have to do anything."

"I can't just sit back and let him—He says Coach attacked him," Matt pressed, as if that changed the issue.

"And if that's true, he can talk to Sheriff Forbes about it," Jeremy rebounded, folding his arms defiantly.

"How?!" Matt asked, staring at Jeremy incredulously. "He's a fucking wolf!"

Jeremy spluttered as he tried to think of a response. But Matt didn't let him.

"I'm going back at Tyler's phone and his wallet," he said resolutely. "Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Matt that wolf is still out there! We can't—" Matt scooped up the keys to his truck and headed toward the door. "Fuck!" Jeremy cried following him back outside.


	20. Chapter 20

Matt hesitantly rounded the corner of The Grill, with a flashlight in one hand, the L-type lug wrench from his truck clutched firmly in his other hand, and Jeremy creeping along behind him wielding a pipe wrench. They crept cautiously down the dark narrow alley. The moon had set while they were away and only the night's stars and eery yellow bulb provided light.

Everything was just as Matt has left it. Milk crates were haphazardly tossed about. The garbage dump was just as crooked as is was during his hasty retreat. Though they hadn't seen hair not hide of the wolf since they'd returned, they still crept silently up the alley, stepping around crates, until…

"Oh my fucking God..." Jeremy said, the sound of vomit in his throat. Matt actually vomited. He leaned his head through the sliding door of the dumpster and hurled.

The wolf had _indubitably_ come back. The body was mauled beyond recognition. Clothes bloody and ripped, deep gashes across the exposed chest. But what was worse, to top of the horrible scene, the entire left arm was missing.

"Oh my God…" Jeremy moaned again. "That could've been us. That could still _be_ us." He peered down either end of the alley, but the wolf was still nowhere in sight.

"Help me find Tyler's stuff," Matt whispered, shining the flashlight down.

"It should be right here," Jeremy responded.

"I know, but it's not," Matt replied trying not to panic. Everything was where they'd left it. Except Tyler's things. There were no shredded clothes, no phone, no wallet, no nothing. It looked as if a wild animal had just slipped into town and attacked some unlucky guy.

"This is crazy," Matt hissed. "Someone else has been here."

"Then maybe we _shouldn't_ be here," Jeremy hissed back. "If somebody found this scene, they definitely called the cops!"

"But they wouldn't have taken the stuff," Matt argued. "That's stealing evidence from a crime scene. And they wouldn't have cleaned up. They wouldn't have made it look like a simple animal attack."

"I don't know," Jeremy shrugged impatiently. "Maybe Tyler came back at it. Let's just go before someone—"

"...you are fucked up…" they heard someone chuckle.

"Shit…" Matt hastily cut the flashlight and the two of them dove behind the dumpster.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" Jeremy mumbled, clearly terrified. They held their breath as a tipsy couple stumbled down the dark lane.

"Which one of us should drive?" The woman giggled.

"You are _not_ driving. Not in the shape you're in," the man responded chuckling as well.

"Well you're not much better," the woman countered.

Matt's heart pounded harder in his chest as they stumbled nearer to the dumpster, nearer to the body. He feared they would hear his drumming heart. It thumped fiercly against his rib cage.

"Men have a higher tolerance level," the man said. Matt heard the woman slap his arm. They were close now, almost on top of them. Why hadn't they seen it yet? "That's so sexist! I can't believe—wait what's that?"

Fuck. She'd seen it.

"Is that… oh my God… Oh my God!" she shrieked. They were directly on the other side of the dumpster. Matt and Jeremy sat frozen. They didn't dare move a muscle.

"Come on," the man said, the disgust evident in his tone. "We'll call the cops from the car."

Matt and Jeremy remained hidden until the footsteps faded, then they quickly dashed back to Matt's truck before anyone else could stumble across them.

"Fuck!" Jeremy cried, after they were in the safety of the cab. "What the fuck?! There's nothing else for it! The police will be here any minute! We have to tell someone!"

"No we don't," Matt countered, cranking the engine and pulling out back onto the main road, headed out of town, back to his house. "His stuff isn't there anymore. No one can connect it to him."

"Yeah, but someone has it, Matt. Who took it and why didn't they call the cops?"

"I don't know, Jer, but we have to figured it out. What do you think would happen if I called it?"

"Seriously? I doubt they'll answer," Jeremy said dubiously.

"I'm gonna give it a shot."

"Well put it on speaker," Jeremy sighed. "There's no way I'm not listening in."

Matt tapped at the screen a few times and the line only rang once before it was answered. Jeremy's eyes almost fell out of his head in shock.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting your call so soon, Matthew." the man said, gravely.

"Who is this?" Matt asked, still surprised to actually be talking to someone. "Why do you have Tyler's things?"

"Don't worry about that for now," the man chuckled. "Just know that I saw what Tyler did. I saw him murder William Tanner. And if you don't want me to talk to Sheriff Forbes about it, you'll meet me under Wickery Bridge tomorrow night at seven." The line died, leaving an ominous ring in the cab.

Matt blanched.

What the fuck? What the fuck, fuck _fuck?!_

"What the fuck?!" Jeremy cried, furiously. "That's it! I'm done! I refuse to get tangled up in Tyler's shit. If you're determined to go down crashing in flames with him then so be but I'm done. Pull over and let me out the truck."

"Jeremy I'm not letting you—"

"Pull over!"

"No! It's after midnight! And Tyler is probably still lurking around as a wolf!"

That's when Jeremy shoved him. Hard enough that Matt swerved in the road.

"Hey!" Matt cried, jerking the wheel back into place. "Cut that out!"

"Not until you pull _over!_ " He shoved Matt again on the word ' over', making the blonde swerve severely this time.

"Dude!" Matt jerked back into the rode. "What's _wrong_ with you?" he asked incredulously.

"You! You're what's wrong with me!" Jeremy shoved him again. This time Matt pulled over to the side of the dark road. Jeremy promptly hopped out and started walking back towards town.

"Fuck…" Matt grumbled, slapping the truck in park and going after him. "Jeremy wait!"

"Go away, Matt!" the boy growled. "Run back to Tyler! That's what you always do!"

"Jeremy!"

And the boy growled at him. He turned and launched himself at Matt, taking them both down to the ground, where he straddled the older teen. "I hate that I love you!" he snarled. Then he punched Matt. Hard. Square in the jaw. "I hate that despite all of this shit, I still love you!" He drew back to strike again, but Matt grabbed his wrist this time and rolled them over in the roadside grass.

"I love you too, Jer," he said, his voice filled with concern. "But you're really upset and you should calm down."

"I don't want to calm down," Jeremy growled. "You make me so fucking angry… just…" he growled furiously. Matt had seen this anger before in Jeremy. Blind rage. The boy had done it again, balled all of his anger up until bursting point. He was just as furious as he had been at the batting cage when he'd wailed on that kid's dad. So Matt did the same thing he'd done to calm Jeremy down then.

He kissed him.

And Jeremy kissed him back, roughly, angrily. He rolled them back over in the grass and kissed back feverishly.

"I hate that I love you," Jeremy said again, moving his lips to Matt's neck under the blaring headlights of Matt's truck. Honestly, Jeremy's angry passion was kind turning Matt on. He rutted up into the boy and Jeremy ground his clothed ass back down into him.

"Fuck…" Matt moaned, the feel of those lips on his neck… Jeremy's hands fumbled with his pants then and soon, the younger boy was tugging them down… and Matt was lifting his hips letting him. The blonde's bare ass touched the grass and his stiff cock sprang free, popping up and slapping him in the belly.

Jeremy wasted no time. He furiously tugged his own aching member free, then roughly rolled Matt over in the grass. He snatched the older teen's ass cheeks apart, exposing his tight hole to the night air. Matt gasped at how rough Jeremy was being with him. The way he manhandled him. Jeremy spat on the little pink hole a few times, shoved his finger in and then….

Jeremy was pushing inside of him. The dick stretched Matt's hole open as it slid home and Matt gasped at the feeling of being penetrated again, and so roughly. Jeremy showed no mercy. This was undoubtedly angry sex. He pounded into Matt. And Matt stuck his ass in the air like a good little bitch and took it, relishing in it.

"Oh fuck! Pound me Jer!"

"You're _mine!_ " Jeremy snarled, shoving his long dick in to the hilt, over and over. He roughly pushed his palm into Matt's back, making the blonde arch it and stick his plump ass higher in the air for Jeremy to pound his cheeks.

"You hear me! This ass is _mine!_ Not Tyler's! _Say_ it!" Jeremy growled. He gripped his fingers in Matt's blonde locs and snatched the older teen's head back.

"Fuck, Jer! Yes! It's yours!" Matt promptly cried. "I'm yours, Jer!" He could feel the long dick deep inside him, so much line than Tyler's and honestly it felt amazing. Nothing like anything the other boy had ever done. It was just so _deep…_ Matt was taking all of it. Jeremy's balls slapped his round ass was each time.

Jeremy shoved the blonde into the ground and collapsed his weight in the boys back. He pounded into Matt, completely having his way with him. Matt clawed at the grass, pulling it up from the roots from the pleasure of his brutal treatment. It didn't take much longer and Jeremy was spilling inside of him and Matt burst shortly after.

Then both teens collapsed in the grass. For a few seconds, Matt simply layed there in comfort, huffing much needed oxygen, smiling a wide smile, and soaking in Jeremy's heavy weight on his back.

"I love you, Matt," Jeremy whispered tenderly, completely different from the monster he'd been just before. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Matt turned his head to kiss him. "You feel better now? Can we go back to my house and figure this mess out?"

Jeremy sighed a calm sigh. "Yeah. Let's go." So he pulled up and climbed back in the truck, driving silently, with Matt thinking how fortunate they were that no one had passed by.

When Matt pulled back up to his house... he was met by whither shocking scene. He didn't think that the night could get any more surprising.

But there was Tyler, sitting on his front porch, completely starkers and covered in blood.


	21. Chapter 21

The moon had set for the night, leaving Matt and Jeremy with the light from the dim street lamps to guide them across Matt's lawn to where the bloody boy sat motionless on the front step of the dark house, his hair disheveled, twigs and leaves tangled in the hairs.

"Tyler?" Matt asked, approaching the boy cautiously. "Are you okay?" The blonde wasn't sure if he should get too close. Maybe the boy would spontaneously turn into a wolf again.

"No, dude. I'm not okay," the nude boy responded despondently, his voice choked with tears. He visibly trembled with fear. "I was scared to go home, so I came here. What happened?"

Matt didn't even know where to begin. So much had happened in a very short lapse of time. "What do you remember?" was the only question Matt's mind could form.

Tyler stammered for a second. "I—I remember… I think I—I bashed coach's head into a garbage dump… You two were there... But that's _crazy_ … I didn't… Matt _tell_ me I didn't kill anybody…" Tyler stared up at his friend, with eyes, terrified of the answer he knew was coming.

"You did, Ty," Matt said softly. "You killed Coach Tanner."

"Oh my God! Oh my _God!_ " The boy burst into hysterical tears. "Oh my fucking God!"

"Calm down. Dude calm down, you're panicking. It's gonna be alright. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna figure this out. Okay? What do you remember after that?"

"Nothing! That's why I'm so scared," Tyler cried frantically. "One second I'm standing with you two over our dead coach. And then there was pain. _Severe_ _pain_. Luke my bones had been torched. And the next second I'm waking up in the middle of the woods somewhere, naked with blood that isn't mine all over me," he hysterically gestured to his messy body, "and a fucking disembodied _arm_ laying across my chest! A _bloody fucking arm!_ "

"Okay, okay," Matt said in the most calming consoling tone he could manage. "This is what we're gonna do. We're all gonna go inside. You're gonna clean yourself up. And we're gonna figure this out." Matt nodded adamantly, as if demonstrating what he wanted Tyler to do. "Okay?" He stared deeply into his friend's eyes, searching for comprehension.

"Okay," Tyler stammered, like the frightened boy he was. "Okay…" He allowed Matt to help him up from the step and the three of them slipped into the dark house.

"You know where the bathroom is," Matt told Tyler, gesturing down the hall. "You can use my gel and stuff. I'll have a towel and clothes ready for you when you're done."

Tyler nodded, taking bloody footprints down the hall.

"What are we gonna tell him?" Jeremy whispered after he heard the shower start.

"What do you mean? We gonna tell him the truth."

"That he turned into a fucking wolf?" Jeremy asked incredulously, following Matt down the hall. "How do you break that to a guy? Matt I still say we need to tell someone about this. We can't handle this situation on our own."

"Who are we gonna talk to?" Matt sighed, impatient with the younger teens bickering. "Because I'm _not_ going to Sheriff Forbes, Jer. I'm not ratting on Tyler like that." He dug aground in the hall closet for the mop. "Besides. It all looks like an animal attack. We only have to deal with whoever has his phone."

"Exactly! We don't know who that is!" Matt sprayed the floor with a bit of bleach, then went at the bloody spots with the mop. "We don't even know who we're dealing with or what we're gonna be walking into. Do you even hear how _crazy_ this all sounds?"

" _Yes,_ Jer." Matt plopped the mop back in the closet, done wiping up Tyler's bloody mess. "I understand that this is a fucked up mess." He turned, stepping across the narrow hallway and into his bedroom, with Jeremy in tow. Matt considered the situation. He finally had Jeremy in his bedroom… and they were arguing. He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him.

"And what exactly is funny about all of this?" Jeremy asked indignantly while Matt shuffled through his drawer for clothes he thought Tyler could probably wear.

Matt chuckled again. "I was just thinking how I finally have you in my room and we're arguing." A small smile breached the younger boy's lips.

"I guess that _is_ a little ironic," Jeremy agreed.

"I always imagined I'd ravish you the first time I got you in here," Matt smiled.

"Always?" Jeremy lifted an amused eyebrow. "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"I've been fawning over you for a while, Jer," Matt admitted sincerely. "Even when I was with your sister. I'm surprised you didn't notice me staring so much. You've just got the tightest little _ass_ … I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. _Still_ can't. _You're_ the reason I started questioning my orientation, Jer. Not Tyler. It's _you_ that I want. Not him." Matt stepped closer and sighed contentedly when Jeremy allowed himself to be pulled into the blonde's arms. "Don't let him make you insecure."

"Well I wouldn't if you didn't _fuck_ him," Jeremy rebounded. "I can't get over that. And I can't trust him anymore. He _throws_ himself at you, when he knows that you're taken. I don't understand how you be friends with someone like that. He takes what he wants without consideration of others and he—"

Both of their heads turned to the sound of the shower stopping. Matt leaned down and kissed the boy in his arms. "We'll finish this conversation later. Okay?"

"Yeah," Jeremy sighed, despondently, pulling himself from Matt's arms.

"Matty?" They heard Tyler call.

"I'll be in the dining room." And Jeremy left up the hall, leaving Matt to assist Tyler.

"Here, dude," Matt said, sticking the clothes and towel through the cracked bathroom door. "Did anything come back to you?"

"No," Tyler responded through the door despondently. "I was with you guys, then I was waking up in the woods. I was scared and confused as fuck, dude. Still am. I went searching my clothes and my car." Tyler open the bathroom door, clean and dressed, though Matt's clothes were slightly baggy on him. "That's how I found the cops. Then I came straight here. I didn't know where else to go."

"Airtight," Matt sighed. "We're gonna figure this out."

Matt and Tyler entered the room to a sour faced Jeremy sitting at Matt's small dining table, a phone stuck to the boy's ear.

"I'm sorry, Jenna," Jeremy huffed into the phone, running a hand through his dark hair. "I lost track of time with Matt and forgot to call." Matt listened to the garbled sound of Jenna's indistinguishable words coming from the receiver, as he and Tyler silently took a seat at the table. "I know, Jenna…" Pause. "I _know…_ What? That's _crazy_ …" The boy responded with a blatantly obvious false surprise to his tone. If _Matt_ could hear the pretense, he was _certain_ that it wouldn't get passed someone as perceptive as Jenna. And sure enough—"Yeah… I am." The boy sighed, slumping in his seat as if defeated. "Yeah. We're fine…. Okay. I promise I'll explain in the morning—well… later on… Okay, bye."

"What was that about?" Tyler asked.

"Jenna was just worried about me," Jeremy drawled, apprehensively. Then he flicked his eyes towards Matt hesitantly and back to Tyler. "Umm… Also… apparently a large grey wolf was sited around town several times ealier… She wanted to make sure I was safe and indoors."

Tyler blanched. "A—a wolf?" he asked timidly, gazing between the two teens at the table.

"Yeah," Matt sighed, deciding to just dive right in. "There was a wolf running around Mystic Falls few hours ago. Believe it not, Ty... It was you."

The boy stared at them blankly for a second, as if he'd frozen in his chair. His wide flicked between the two boys at the table. "You're shitting me," he chuckled. But Matt could see the puzzle pieces connecting in the boy's head. "I'm not a wolf. I'm _Tyler._ I'm sitting right here."

"I know it sounds crazy, Ty," Matt pressed adamantly. "It was even crazier watching it. And fucking terrifying. But after you killed coach, you turned into a wolf."

"That's—that's crazy," Tyler stammered in disbelief.

"I _know_ it sounds crazy, Ty," Matt repeated, more fervently this time. "But it makes sense. It explains why you blacked out the last two hours of your life. The same two hours a mysterious wolf was running around town. It explains why you woke up bloody and naked. You turned into a wolf and ripped out of your clothes and Jeremy and I narrowly escaped you." Jeremy nodded adamantly in agreement.

"You totally tried to fucking kill us, dude," Jeremy deadpanned.

"Then you went back, mauled Coach Tanner's body and—" Matt stumbled over the next few words. "—and you took his arm. And all of this weird wolf shit happened under a full moon. And now that the moon has set, you're a person again." Matt paused, letting his words sink in. "Dude, I think—I think you might be a we—"

"Don't say it!" Tyler snapped. "Werewolves are not fucking real!"

"Tyler it make sense!" Matt pressed. "And you _know_ it does! How could I make something like this up? I know you don't want to believe it but you have to. The sooner you do, the sooner we can figure out why this happened, and how we can stop it."

"No, no, no, no…." The boy had rose from his chair and was shaking his head adamantly.

"I _know,_ Tyler," Matt repeated, almost impatiently this time. "I can't stress how _crazy_ this sounds. Had I not saw it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it either. You _turned into a wolf,_ Ty. Then you tried to eat us. After you failed, you went back and ate Coach instead. And apparently you've been running around town frightening the shit out of people ever since—"

"Okay," Tyler interrupted dubiously, as if he were simply humoring Matt. "Let's say I believe you. What now? I left a bloody body in an alley. What's gonna—wait…" He paused abruptly. "Where's my stuff? I went back looking for it, but all I found was caution tape and cops. You have my car," Tyler dashed over and peered through the blinds to check that he wasn't crazy, that he'd definitely seen his car outside. Matt could see that boy was panicking again. "But where's my stuff? It should still be in the alley. What if the cops found it? Next to a dead body?!"

"Calm down," Matt said, raising his hands as if he were approaching a frightened bunny. "I already thought about that and we went back for it before the cops got there."

Tyler sighed in relief and Matt saw his shoulders relax.

"But someone beat us to it." Matt spilled the sentence or in one breath, making Tyler blanch, and tense right back up again.

"What...?"

"Someone saw us. Well saw _you—_ kill Coach Tanner." Matt spat the information out. It needed to be said. "Your phone and your wallet and your ripped up clothes… Everything. it was gone. Someone had been there. They cleaned up the place and made it look like an animal attack."

Matt didn't think it was possible, but Tyler blanched even further. There couldn't possibly be any blood left in his face. "Dude, what the fuck?"

"...just now tuning in, allegedly the body has been mangled beyond recognition by a wolf…" Matt heard over his shoulder. Turning he found the small television behind them glowing from where Jeremy had turned it on. Logan Fell stood before the camera speaking into a WPKW9 microphone, with the caution taped alleyway behind him, Sheriff Forbes in the background. "I'm going to step in and see if I can get a closer look."

"Wait—what time is it?" Matt asked, startled to find the news on.

"After 6," Jeremy mumbled, eye glued to the screen. "Sun should be coming up soon."

Fuck. Where had all that time gone? And sure enough, Matt could see daylight creeping through the living room window. It had crept up on them like a—

Matt's phone chose that moment to vibrate in his pocket, as if it somehow knew the night was over. Matt the dug the device from his pocket and found a picture of the Lockwood mansion on his screen, with the words, 'Tyler's Home'.

"Dude it's your parents," Matt whispered, as if they could somehow hear him.

"Fuck! Ummm… put it on speaker!"

Matt swiped at the screen a couple of times. "Hello?"

"Hi, Matt. It's Carol." The warm female voice permeated the room from Matt's phone.

"Hi, Mrs. Lockwood. How are you?" Matt's replied cheerfully, his pretense much more believable than Jeremy's.

"I've been better," she sighed. "Have you seen Tyler sweety? He didn't come home last night and he he isn't answering his phone." Matt looked up to see how he should answer that question and found Tyler shakingfhis head vehemently.

"No. I haven't," Matt responded sincerely. "Not since the bonfire Friday night."

"Oh, God," she said, her voice cracking. Matt hated himself for lying. "I'm just so worried. I don't know if you've heard yet but there's a wolf running around town."

"What?" Matt said, putting on an oscar performance. "Like… an actual wolf?! No one was hurt were they?" The line was was quiet for a second.

"You should turn on the news, dear," Mrs. Lockwood responded sadly. "Please call me if you hear from Tyler and I'll do the same."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you, sweetheart. Bye, now."

"Goodbye." And the line died.

"You should _really_ go home, Ty," Matt said turning to the boy. "Your parents are clearly having a panic attack."

"What am I gonna tell them?" Tyler asked frantically. "It's a relief that people believe this was a random animal attack," Tyler continued, gesturing to the television, where Logan Fell was now speaking with Sheriff Forbes, "but according to you, I'm still not completely off the hook yet because some unknown stranger had my shit!"

"I don't know, dude. But at least you're clean now. Go home and tell them a lie. Something terrible. Nothing you can come up will be worse than the truth. Tell you them you got drunk last night, hooked up with an older woman and passed out in the lady's bed."

"That is actually brilliant!" Tyler agreed, his eyes lighting up in excitement. "I'm definitely gonna get into trouble, but I won't get into _near_ as much as I would have!"

"You two are terrible!" Jeremy interrupted incredulously. "That's the problem with lies! Once you tell one, you have to keep stacking them on top of each other until you're neck deep in this huge pile of fucked up shit! We cannot h—"

But Matt's once again, Matt's phone chose that moment to vibrate. _Unknown Caller._

"Who the fuck…?" Matt swiped at the screen.

"Hello again, Matthew." It was the guy from last night. Matt almost dropped his phone in surprise. His heart dropped. 'This is him!' he mouthed to Tyler with wide eyes. "There's been a change of plans. Seven pm is too late for me. Meet me under Wickery Bridge in fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen… that's crazy! I can't get there that fast!"

"I think you'll make it happen… for Tyler's sake," and the line died. What in the actual fuck?

"Okay… We need to think about this," Jeremy started, always the rational one. "We can't just blindly run off to this guy. We don't know what we're going into we need to…"

But Matt wasn't listening. He was watching Tyler's confused expression. The boy looked as if he were trying to find the last digit of an irrational number, straining to reach the impossible.

"Are you okay, dude? What's that face for?" Matt asked curiously.

"Because I recognise that voice," Tyler explained, his toned mirroring his confused expression. "And I'm pretty sure that you were just talking to my Uncle Mason."


	22. Chapter 22

I still say we should be cautious," Jeremy mumbled, as the three boys rumbled back through town in Matt pickup. "There's a possibility that Tyler could be mistaken and walking into our deaths."

" _Yes,_ there is," Tyler spat, mildly annoyed. "But a very low one. I know my uncle's voice when I hear it, dude." He stared out the the passenger window, frowning irritability.

"Hey! Don't take take tone with with me!" Jeremy snapped back. "It's because of you that we're in this shit!"

"Fuck you! No one's making you come along! You can run on back to Jenna with your tail between your legs whenever you feel like it and let the men handle this." Tyler plastered his famous smirk across his face, making Jeremy growl furiously.

"How I wish I could! But I'm too far in now!" The boy looked as if he might attack Tyler any second and Matt did not need them fighting in his truck. Or anywhere fur the matter.

"Okay, chill out!" Matt snapped. "We still have shit to figure out. We can't argue." He risked a glance passed Jeremy at a sour faced Tyler in the passenger seat. "You said Coach attacked you, Ty. What the fuck was that about? Why would he do that?"

Tyler's face abruptly changed. No more irritation, but sudden hesitation and Matt knew he had hit the right question. From the corner of his eye, the raven haired teen trepidly peered at Matt, the swiftly shifted his gaze back out the window and onto the passing building of the town, as if ignoring the question would make it go away.

Fat chance.

" _Tyler…_ " Matt persisted, ardently. "What happened?"

"Well," the boy started reluctantly, still intently starting out the window. "I _may_ have bumped into him in the restroom at The Grill… and threatened him with blackmail."

It was as if those words ignited a flame. Voices in top of voices. Matt failed to keep his eyes on the road when he turned to snap at Tyler and he had to swerve back into the street, making several commuters blow their horn at him.

"What the fuck, Ty!"

"I was trying to help you! Consider that and be grateful for the lengths—"

"Why would you do that?"

"Grateful! Fucking _grateful!_ I thought we agreed not to do that shit!"

"What did you even have on him?! What did you even _want?!_ "

"No we agreed that you need to shut up and listen to me sometimes!"

"W—wait a second…"

"Well _clearly_ you were mistaken! Look at where your decision has lan—"

"WAIT A FUCKING SECOND!" Jeremy exploded, silencing the loud cab. The three boys sat huffing as Matt barreled out of town. "You two _discussed_ this?!" Jeremy asked incredulously.

" _Fleetingly._ And it was vehemently agreed that that was _not_ an option," Matt responded, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the road and not glare at Tyler.

"An option for what? What did he have that you wanted enough to consider _blackmail?_ "

"It was _never_ a consideration," Matt assured the younger boy. "It was a completely _wild_ suggestion that I promptly shut down. Or I _thought_ I had."

"There's no shutting him down! _This_ is what I talking about! He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants without thinking about the consequences! This entire mess really is _all his fault!_ "

"Wait you two have been talking about me?" Tyler asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well _clearly_ you two have been talking about me," Jeremy spat in his defense.

"Okay, guys, we're here," Matt huffed, deciding to change subject before the conversation could get any more out of control. Matt didn't want Jeremy to find how desperate and cunning he'd been to get him back, not after he was so close to doing just that. He pulled over to the side of the road at the mouth of Wickery Bridge.

Jeremy glared at him. "Don't think that this over."

Matt sighed a defeated sigh, climbing out of the cab. The sun peeped over the trees as the three boys silently made their way down the rocky slope alongside the bridge, a small path having formed from where the many teenagers had climbed down to take a dip in the river over the years.

Matt wanted to have faith in his friend and most of him did. But when he cut the corner of the sandy shore, young under the bridge, his heart pounded over what they find.

"You're late," the voice from the phone said. He was a surprisingly young man. A handsome man with strong facial features. He wore cargo shorts, sandals, and a muscle shirt. A part of Matt was expecting someone in a black suit and shades. In all honesty, he didn't look like the type to be blackmailing someone. but Matt didn't let that put him at ease. he didn't relax until—

"Uncle Mason?!" Tyler said incredulously, raising his arms and dropping them at his side.

"Hey there, nephew," the man, Mason, smiled. "Long time no see." He then stepped over and embraced Tyler, leaving Matt and Jeremy completely stunned. What in the actual fuck?

"Mason? What are _doing_ here?" Tyler asked, releasing the man. "What's with all this cryptic phone calls shit?"

"In my defense," Mason responded, "I only made _one_ cryptic phone call. It's not my fault _this_ kid doesn't know the difference between my voice and Logan Fell's. _That's_ who cleaned up the alley. I knew that you'd been afraid go home afterwards because we always are. And if you wouldn't go home, then you were running to none other than," he gestured to Matt, like the blonde was the main event at a show, "Matthew Donovan, your best friend.

So I had to take some drastic measures that I apologize for, to draw you back in, because if you're anything like me, you probably would've wound up running away from home. I couldn't stand by and let that happen."

Tyler simply stared at the man dumbly. And a part of Matt understood because he was still lost himself. Tyler stammered a bit before he seemed to find his words again.

"Okay." Tyler shook his head as if he had water in his ears. "I'm gonna need you to keep explaining because I'm still confused. What's Logan Fell have to do with all of this? And why you talking like you've—"

"Like I've been through this before?" Mason interrupted. "Because I _have._ I've been—"

"Wait—wait… You're telling me that… you turned into a wolf too?" Tyler asked dubiously.

"Yes, Ty. Except unlike you, I didn't have someone to explain it to me the first time it happened. I just had—"

"The _first_ time? Like… this is gonna keep happening?"

"There a lot to explain, Ty," Mason smiled. "I understand the confusion but if you keep interrupting we'll never get through it. And maybe this isn't the best place to have this conversation. I picked somewhere secluded because I had to make the blackmail believable." He shrugged. "Sorry again about that. Let's go home, Ty. Your parents are probably worried sick. I wolf _was_ sited around town and all." He winked at them.

Tyler blanched. "But what—what am I gonna tell them?"

"The truth," was Mason's solemn response.


	23. Chapter 23

Tyler blanched. "But what—what am I gonna tell them?"

"The truth."

The color drained even further from the boy's face. "But Dad—Dad's gonna freak! He probably won't even—"

Once again, Matt's chirping phone rudely interrupted Tyler, though Matt was slightly grateful for it this time. He could sense a panic attack approaching and quite frankly, didn't want to deal with it at the moment. The blonde dug the dying phone out of his pocket, and paled at the picture on the dim screen.

"Fuck, I forgot about Vicki." From the look on Jeremy's face, Matt could tell that he'd forgotten about her too. "Hello?"

"Hey, Matty. What happened to you?" his sister asked, concern in her tone. "Did you go home and fall asleep?"

"No… Your food's in the truck." Matt mumbled running a hand across his face and deciding on the truth. Well part of it anyway. "Jer and I narrowly escaped that wolf that was running around town."

"Wait, what—wolf?" she stammered. "There's was a _wolf_ in town? Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, don't run your blood pressure up, I just… I'm ok my way back now. Okay?" Matt held the phone up to his sweaty ear waiting for a response that never came. "Vicki? Hello? Vick— fuck…" The phone died.

"I gotta go," Matt told Tyler.

—

Matt and Jeremy turned the final corner with the food bag and entered the hospital room to find a fully dressed Vicki. She sat on the bed patiently, her legs tucked under her in a half-lotus.

"Hey, Matty," she smiled, climbing down from the bed. "The doctor came in and released me just before I called you. Can we please get out of here?" She swiped the bag from his hand as she slipped pass and out the room before he could even enter it properly. "I'm sick of this stuffy place. Hey… these are cold," she complained, biting into the burger all the same. The temperature of the food didn't appear to be deterring its consumption so Matt decided to not respond. Vicki had finished her burger and was moving into Matt's before the three of them made it back to the truck.

"Wow," Jeremy mumbled, concerned. "Did they feed you?"

"Yeah, but it was awful hospital food." She frowned in disgust. "I only ate the jello."

Fortunately, Matt had never been admitted into a hospital so he had no personal opinion on the food. But from the many terrible things heard about it, he decided that the best thing for his sister would be to drive home silently and let her eat. And the three of them did just that. They road along silently, her munches the only sound in the cab. The bag was empty by the time they got there.

"Welcome home," Matt smiled, rushing around the truck to open the door for his sister. Vicki smiled at the blonde's chivalry, rolling her eyes.

"Cut it out," she chuckled, smacking her lips and climbing down from the truck. "I was only gone for a day."

"Long enough to be missed. I had to make my own pot of coffee," Matt joked.

"Oh ha ha," she smiled, laughing sarcastically as a little black SUV pulled up behind Matt's truck.

An unfamiliar black SUV. Who the fuck…? But before the thought could form properly in Matt's mind, Tyler hopped out of the passenger side of the vehicle.

"Tyler. Hey." Matt relaxed, looking through the windshield to see Mason in the driver's seat.

"Tyler," Vicki said bitterly. Then she turned to go inside as of his presence disgusted her.

"Well hello to you too," Tyler called after her retreating form. She simply flipped the middle finger over her shoulder as the screen door slammed in her wake.

"What happened there? Weren't you guys just lovey dovey last week?"

"She's just pissed cause…." He glanced over at Jeremy and seemed to switch up what he was going to say. "She'll get over it."

Sensing that that subject was one he needed to breech later, Matt decided to change it. "So how'd the parents take it?" he asked apprehensively.

Tyler sighed as if exhausted from the entire situation. "It was a huge mess. This wolf thing came with a lot more than I was expecting and Mom was cool and caring about it all. Of course, she always is. But Dad? He totally freaked out. I honestly don't understand how a woman as sweet as my mom wound up with a man like him."

"Wait. A lot more?" Matt asked, lifting a curious eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean?

"A _lot_ more," Tyler huffed again. "Mason made me talk to them as soon as I got home and of _course_ they didn't believe me because what the fuck? It sounds crazy. But then Mason showed them this…" Tyler lifted the end of Matt's truck with one hand, then gently set it flat again as if it were a toy building block he was manipulating.

Holy fuck…

"That's when Dad freaked out and mom had to pour herself a glass of chardonnay."

 _Holy fuck!_

"Dude, did you just pick up my truck?" Matt asked incredulously. Did his eyes deceive him?

" _Noooo_ …." Tyler responded timidly. "I lifted it."

"Yeah but with _one hand._ And you did it like it was _nothing._ Like you were moving a pillow or something."

"Yeah I… dude please don't freak out on me," Tyler said sadly. "I don't think I could handle it if you did too."

"No… I just—I… I need to let that sink in. You _picked up my truck!_ "

" _No…_ " Tyler repeated, a little more vehemently this time. "I just _lifted_ it."

"Well as easily as you _lifted_ it," Matt countered, mockingly putting the same emphasis on the the word, "you could probably pick it up."

"Probably if Mason helped," Tiller admitted shamefully after a small moment of silence.

"So what are you like… Superman or something now?" Matt asked, still in shock.

"No… I just…" Tyler ran a hand across his face apprehensively. "You're freaking out on me dude. You said you weren't."

"No—I—fuck…" Matt huffed. Maybe he _was_ freaking out a little. He took a deep calming breath. "Okay. So. You're basically the Incredible Hulk now. What's next?"

Tyler rolled his eyes at that. "Mason wants to take me away to help me get in control of it. That's kinda of his reason for showing up so suddenly."

Matt blanched. "Wait—what? For how long?"

Tyler sighed. "A couple of months? A year? I don't know. However many full moons it takes to get used to this."

"But—but—you…" Matt stammered, lost for words. They couldn't take his friend away. "But your parents. They won't let him right?"

Tyler chuckled darkly. "Dad's actually _very_ adamant that I go. He practically shoved me out the door. Bastard. I bet he's thinking of it like boot camp or something, like I've done something wrong and need to be punished."

"So that's it? You're just leaving? Just like that?"

"My stuffs already packed," Tyler sighed with a shrug. Was Matt imagining the despondence? "I just wanted to say goodbye. I would say that I'd text but Mason and I are gonna be in the mountains or something and I won't have any reception. So…" Tyler shrugged forlornly. Then he seemed at loss for words after saying what he'd come to say. He stood there awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with the emotional situation, until Matt scooped his friend into a hug. He was surprised to find firm reciprocation from the other boy.

"I don't want to go Matty," Tyler said softly, his mouth next to the blonde's ear.

Matt pulled back and stared into his friend's shattered eyes, still holding the boy's shoulders. He couldn't let Tyler do this, not when it was so obviously breaking him. Matt had never seen his friend like this, so depressed and miserable. "Then don't go," Matt said.

"I _have_ to," Tyler pressed. "I don't have a choice. Dad's not giving me any options, remember?"

"There are _always_ options," Matt responded. 'I _have_ to' is what people say when they don't like the alternative."

"Well what's my alternative, Matt?" Tyler asked flippantly. "Dad won't let me come home. He took my credit cards. I either go with Mason... or what? Sleep on the streets?"

"Do you think I'd ever let you sleep on the streets?" Matt said suggestively, smiling at his friend. Tyler's eyes slowly widened as those words sank in, until he resembled gaping fish.

"Are saying...?"

"Don't look so surprised, Ty," Matt chuckled. "Of _course_ you can stay here. You'll _always_ have a bed in my house. Or at least a sofa."

"Matt you're the best friend a guy could ask for!" Tyler snatched the blonde back into another hug.

And this time, over his shoulder, Matt's eyes fell on Jeremy's. The boy had been so quit Matt had almost forgotten he was there. Matt looked up into the younger teen's face and paled. Because Jeremy looked furious, disappointed, and upset all at the same time while slowly shaking his head at the situation.

"I think you should take me home now."


	24. Chapter 24

After a silent, tense ride, Matt pulled up in front of the Gilbert home. He slipped the truck into park and turned to a stoic Jeremy, expecting him to say something, but the boy promptly reached for the door.

"Jer, wait. We need to talk," Matt started.

"No. We don't," Jeremy spat, swiftly hopping out of the truck. Matt huffed and hopped out right behind him.

" _Yes_ we do," he said ardently, rushing around the truck. "You're angry and we need to talk about it."

"Then talk Matt," Jeremy snapped, spinning on his heel fiercely, his voice rising with each word. "I wonder why I'm angry. You said you weren't going to see him anymore and I understand, I _honestly understand_ that I shouldn't have asked for that. But what the fuck, Matt?! Now you're gonna let him _live_ with you?! When you know how he is. You _know_ what he does. You _know_ that _I don't trust him!_ "

"He was going to leave, Jer," Matt countered fervently. "If I didn't let him stay, they were going to take him away. What was I supposed to do?"

"Let him leave!" Jeremy practically yelled, as if that was the most simple solution. "You could have let him go! That would've solved everything! He's the root of our problems!"

"Jeremy I—"

"But instead you take him in! Where he can make passes at you daily! It's almost like you _want_ him to fuck you!"

"That's not tr—"

"I won't share you with him, Matt. If I can't have all of you, I don't want _any_ of you!"

"Is everything okay out here?" Jenna asked stepping out onto the porch and glaring at Matt.

"Yes," Jeremy answered firmly, his face set and determined. "I was just coming in."

"Good, because we need to talk young man." Jenna folded her arms in sturn paternal manner that looked odd in someone a young as her. Jeremy simply rolled his eyes eyes at her antics and turned to go inside.

"No, Jer. We can't end like this. We have to talk it out. That's how th—"

"We can and I just _did_ ," he spat. "Go back to Tyler."

"No Jeremy." Matt firmly gripped the boy's wrist and spun him back around. He didn't care that Jenna was watching. He didn't care that they were standing outside on the sidewalk in broad daylight. He did the only thing he knew would calm Jeremy down, the one thing that always worked.

He kissed him.

And just like always, Jeremy kissed back, instantly melting into Matt's strong arms. I was a short soft kiss, gentle and caring, collecting all of the jumbled, confusing emotions floating around and dispelling them.

Matt slowly pulled away and pressed his forehead into the younger boy's, peering into his eyes.

"Are you okay now?" He asked softly.

"No," Jeremy responded just as softly, though much more calmly. "I'm still angry with you."

"I'm sorry, Jer, but I couldn't let him go. Honestly I can't see my life without him in it. But it's _you_ that I want at my side. _You're_ my guy. I love _you._ Okay? Get that through your head." He gave Jeremy's head a gentle affectionate shake for emphasis.

"I _have._ It's in there. I _know_ that you love me. I'm yours and you're mine. What doesn't seem to be penetrating properly is where Tyler fits in. He's shown both of us that he doesn't care several times and I _don't trust him around you._ Period."

"Then how about you stay with me too," Matt suggested, running loving fingers through the other boy's hair. "You can personally keep an eye on him."

"Wait are you…? You want us to live together?"

"Well not exactly _live_ together," Matt amended with a small grin, "although that sounds nice, I'm sure Jenna wouldn't have it. But you could ask to sleep over for a few days and let a few days turn into whenever she makes you come home."

"I don't think Jenna's gonna have that either," Jeremy smiled.

"Then you can pop up whenever you like," Matt said. "Totally random. Okay?" He gave the boy a quick peck.

"Okay," Jeremy sighed. "I don't like it, but don't think I won't hold you to that."

"I'm hoping for it," Matt smiled, pecking his lips again.

Jeremy glanced over his shoulder at Jenna, still glaring down at them from the porch with arms folded and lips tight. "What should I tell Jenna? We both know I'm not good liar."

Matt sighed, looking up at Jenna as well. Fuck. He'd already lied to Carol. He didn't want to lie to Jenna to. _Fuck._ "Just…. follow my lead."

And they then stumbled up the steps where Matt told Jenna the same half truth that Matt had told Vicki. They were at The Grill, getting done burgers and they narrowly escaped the rampaging wolf (Jenna almost had a heart attack) and that they'd gone back to Matt's and passed out afterwards.

Jenna glared at them sternly after Matt finished his heartfelt monologue. She peered between them, staring into one set of eyes after the other, as if trying to see into their brains and pick out the lies.

"Okay," she said sharply, after her moment of scrutiny. "Then tell me, Jeremy. Why did you lie? Why did you pretend to know nothing about the wolf when I called?"

Matt was ready for that question. "Because he—"

"Excuse me, Matt," Jenna interrupted, holding up and index finger in a silencing gesture, "but you've had your turn. I'm talking to Jeremy, now."

 _Oh she's good,_ Matt thought. If this were a plan that they'd formulated, Jenna would know that Matt would be the best at delivering the lines. So she was attacking the weaker link. If one of them was going to crack, or slip up on their story, it should be Jeremy.

But Jeremy fooled them both.

"Because I didn't want you to panic," he fired promptly and sincerely. "Like you're doing. I'm fine. Matt took good care of me, like he _always_ does."

Jenna's eyes narrowed. "Well apparently not _too_ good, if you almost _died._ " She scrutinized them for a second more, lips tight, are still folded. "You two are keeping something from me."

Matt sighed in defeat. Of course they would never get one over on the astute Jenna Sommers.

"But I can see that it's for good reason, and even though you apparently _narrowly escaped death,_ " she said, emphasizing the words as if a part of her didn't believe them, "I'll let it go. This time. Elena is making breakfast if you wanted to stay over Matt." And with that, she turned and went inside.

"Well that went over much better than I was expecting," Jeremy said, sighing in obvious relief. But Matt simply held a finger over his lips and smiled when Jeremy frowned in puzzlement. Matt tapped his ear and pointed at the door as an explanation.

Realization filled the younger teen's eyes. "You're right," he whispered.

Matt smiled wider. "We'll talk more later. Come over whenever you want. Okay?" He pecked the boy's lips again.

"Okay."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:** Someone please help me. I would _swear_ that I wrote this into the plotline, but after reading over the story, I can't seem to find it. Maybe I wrote it in and deleted it before I published because I didn't like how it came out, and I simply don't remember deleting it. If you know where it is in the story, please point me to it. **Did I not give Vicki a job at The Grill?**

It was when he returned to the cab of his truck that Matt realized he'd left his sister alone with Tyler. Fuck. The tension between those two lately wouldn't surmount to anything good. Maybe Jeremy was right. Maybe Matt _hadn't_ thought this through.

Matt twisted the key, sending his old truck roaring to life as he dispelled that thought. He couldn't let Tyler leave, not if he could stop it. Vicki would simply have to cope for a while. He was driving to his side of Mystic Falls when he spotted a familiar little black SUV. And Mason Lockwood climbing into it with none other than Logan Fell. Matt slowed down a bit at he rolled by, watching them.

What was it with those two? Mason had never said why Logan had helped them. Tyler hadn't given him the chance. But from the look of them and their laughing faces as they claimed into the truck, they appeared to be best buds.

 _You should follow them,_ Matt's little Tyler shoulder devil said deviously as the truck pulled out in front of Matt. _Go see what they're up to._

 _No,_ his little angel chimed in. _You should go home and check on your sister._

 _But those two look so suspicious, don't they? You should stalk them and figure out why Logan helped you guys._

 _Clearly, they're good friends. Logan helped you out of the kindness of his heart. You should follow_ your _heart, go home, and see about your sister._

Matt considered it for a second, watching the little SUV gain distance in front of him. And despite all of the trouble Tyler had gotten them into this far, he listened to his shoulder devil, and did what Tyler would do. Instead of going straight, and following the main road home, Matt turned in behind the SUV, following it instead.

He'd never tailed anyone before, but he tried to do what he'd seen in movies. Don't get too close keep a car in between if possible. It wasn't. There was no else in the road but them. So he simply had to let the little SUV stay a good block ahead of him.

After maybe three turns, and a mile drive, Matt had almost decided to call it quits. The houses were growing nicer and further apart and the trees were becoming more dense while little black SUV still drove on. Where were they going? Matt pulled into the driveway of a the next home, having decided to turn around, when he saw the truck slow down about a quarter of a mile ahead of him and pull into a driveway as well.

A house? They were going to someone's house? He watched the two of them climb out of the SUV and up the marble steps of the walkway.

Logan's house, Matt's discovered as he watched the man unlock the door.

 _There. You've discovered their destination. Now go home. Go get some sleep._

 _No waaaay man! You've gotta go see what they're up to!_

Matt debated with himself for a full two minutes, his little shoulder devil winning out in the end once again, the little angel shaking his head disdainfully.

Matt backed out of the driveway and parked alongside the road little further down, but not so close that they would see and notice his truck, then he crouched outside the nice house (of _course_ Logan Fell had a nice house) like a cat burglar, stumbling along and clandestinely peering through windows all the way.

"You're totally trespassing, Matt," he mumbled to himself as he crept along. "You could get arrested for this." What would Sheriff Forbes say? But that thought didn't stop him from glancing through the next window. Empty kitchen.

Where had they gone? Matt was certain that he'd seen them go inside. Had they gone into the back yard? Into the basement? He peeped through the fourth window like a creep and what he saw froze him, his eyes fell out of his head. Mason Lockwood was bent over the dining room table for Logan Fell. Both of their jeans were pulled down their thighs, lower halves exposed and….

Tyler's perfect ass must run in the Lockwood's genes because Mason's was round, plump and glorious. It looked amazing, especially with the way being bent over made his luscious cheeks spread wide and revealing. Matt could see his little hole being stretched by Logan's fat dick. It slid into the tiny hole, stretching it, abusing it. He could see Mason's muscles clutching at the thick appendage while Logan pumped away, dominating the larger man.

Logan gripped the Mason's muscular hips firmly while he thrusted into him, making the man take all off his long rod. The hole and Logan's impressive cock shined with lube, making the strokes appear smooth and effortless. Mason's gorgeous ass cheeks giggled a bit each time Logan's hips slapped into them and the frequency of the swift strokes made the ass shake constantly. Mason's jaw hung open while he took it, obviously feeling immense pleasure. He backed back onto the dick in an attempt to take more.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Matt mumbled, swiftly squatting back below the window sill before he could be spotted. "Why am I always witnessing these things?"

 _Had you listened to me,_ his little shoulder angel said pompously. _You could've saved yourself the indignity. You still can. Leave. Now._

This time, Matt obeyed. He tucked away the bit of integrity he had left and scampered away from the house.

—

"What the fuck, Matt?!" He hadn't even made it through the front door properly before she'd snapped at him. "What in the actual fuck? He is _not_ staying here." Vicki folded her arms in defiance, lips pressed into a tight knot.

Matt sighed from exhaustion. He hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and he had just witnessed his best friend's uncle taking it up the ass by a handsome news anchor. He just couldn't deal at the moment.

"It's just for a little while Vicki," Matt said compassionately, trying to empathise with his sister. "Just until his parents see sense. Are you really this angry with him? If it's any consolation, _I_ asked him to not sleep with you anymore. He _is_ kind of my best friend and you _are_ kind of my sister."

"And I'm _kind_ of right here," Tyler said. "Stop talking about me like I'm not in the room."

"Fuck you," Vicki snapped.

"Fuck you!" Tyler snapped back.

Vicki spun in him, snarling.

"Okay, okay," Matt huffed, diffusing things before they could get ugly… er. "Vicki," Matt stated firmly. "Tyler staying here. I'm sorry. Tyler. You have to be nice to Vicki. This is her house too."

"Damn right it is," she snapped.

"Only if she's nice to me," Tyler countered defiantly, folding his arms.

" _Tyler,_ " Matt pressed, glaring at the boy.

" _Fine…_ " he huffed. "I'll _try_ to be nice."

"Whatever." Vicki curled her lip in a disgusted way and stormed off to her room, sliding the door behind her, so hard it rattled the walls, sending a bit of dust trickling down from the ceiling.

"She'll get used to you being around," Matt huffed, staring at the closed door. "Hopefully."

"Yeah. Hopefully. So I talked to Mason. He still thinks it would be best if I went away with him, but unlike Dad, he's not going to force me."

"Well at least _someone's_ day is going relatively good," Matt mumbled. "Speaking off your uncle. I caught him fucking Logan Fell."

"Wait— _what?_ " That had clearly caught him of guard. He looked like Matt had just insulted him.

"Yeah. I'm dead ass." And Matt went into his story of stalking Mason.

"You stalked my uncle?" Tyler asks indignantly.

"Is that all you got out of that story?" Matt countered incredulously. "I saw the man taking a thick one up the ass and that's what you have to say?"

"I just… I can't believe that. Mason's like… a lady killer."

"Well so are you," Matt replied pointedly, smirking for emphasis.

"Good point," he agreed. "But I can settle this." And he dug his phone out of his pocket. He swiped and tapped at the screen a few times before slipping it up to his ear.

"Mason?" Pause. "Hey what's up? Are you fucking Logan Fell?" Matt blanched. It was so blunt and direct and just so… _Tyler._ Why was Matt even surprised?

"I have my sources that shall remain undisclosed," Tyler continued, answering an unheard question. But Matt guessed it was something along the lines of, 'How do you know/who told you that?'. "But a lack of denial is usually an affirmation." Pause. "So is that why he helped us? Because you're like his boyfriend or something?" Matt facepalmed. Tyler was such an ass. How could he interrogate his _uncle_ like that? "Hey," Tyler said into the phone defensively, "I have a reason to—wait… What are they doing to my car?"

Tyler rushed over to the blinds in the living area and peered out to the driveway. "What the—Hey!" He yelled, snatching the front door open. "I'll text you later Uncle Mason. What are doing with my car!" Tyler asked furiously, deftly rushing out the door. Matt swiftly followed in behind him to find Tyler's sleek little coupe being pulled onto the back of a tow truck.

"According to our paperwork, the vin number of this vehicle is registered to Mayor Lockwood," the middle-aged pudgy driver answered.

"Well—well yeah he bought it, but he gave it to me!" Tyler stammered pathetically.

"S'nothing I can do kid," the guy said unapologetically. He was probably a hard working struggling man, happy to see a preppy teen get what he deserved. "I suggest you don't piss off your old man next time."

"You can't the my car! How am I supposed to get around?!"

"I can and I am." The man smiled cruelly, locking the car securely into place now that it was properly on the truck. "And why don't you try getting a weekend job like a normal teenager? Stop relying on your rich daddy."

Job. Job! Matt's heart skipped a beat.

"Fuck, I'm supposed to be at work!" He sprinted back inside, grabbing his Mystic Grill shirt, and dashed back outside. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! I'll see you later, Ty!" he called out the boy who stood there somberly, watching his car roll away down the street.

Matt peeled down the street, zipping around the the truck, trying and failing to watch his speed. He made a usually ten minute trip to town in three fortunately without encountering any deputies along the way and after dashing into the employee entrance, he immediately bumped into Deena who was… bussing a table. Doing _his_ job.

"Well look who decided to show up," Deena mumbled sarcastically, "Two and a half hours late I might add."

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time," Matt spluttered rapidly. "Deena, you know I'm _never_ late. I got—"

"Well there's a first time for everything," she replied bitterly.

"I'm _sorry,_ Deena," Matt stressed. "I got tangled up with that wolf last night. It tried to eat me and—"

"Wait," she said, halting him once again. "You called off yesterday because your sister got attacked by an animal and now you're saying _you_ almost got attacked by an animal?"

Matt frowned in desperation. "I know it sounds crazy but—"

"Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. You must be tired after your altercation with Mystic Falls' mysterious wolf," she said dubiously.

"What...? No," he pressed vehemently. "I'm fine. Deena, you know I need my hours. I can g—"

"I'm not asking. I'm telling. Go home Matt. I'll see you tomorrow."

"But—what…." Matt sighed in defeat as she walked away, slipping off through the swinging door. "Fuck…" he mumbled, lightly kicking at a chair frustration. He slouched back out into the bright morning, watching people walking their dogs, cheerfully playing in the field across the street with their kids without a care in the world. The birds chirped, the squirrels skitted about. There was the faint sound of sirens in the distance. It was a normal day.

 _For every fucking one else,_ Matt thought, slumping to his truck irritably and climbing back in. What had he done to deserve his life? He was a good person. Wasn't he?

 _Sometimes bad things happen to good people,_ his little shoulder angel said solemnly. Matt had to agree. Because the day just kept getting worse. He leisurely rolled back across town, no reason to speed anymore, then turned onto his street and had to pull over for a zooming fire truck. He'd been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the sirens getting louder as they drew nearer. He remained alongside the road as an ambulance shot passed him as well. Where were they going? Matt hoped everything was okay. Hopefully no one was hurt.

It was then that he looked up and saw the thick black smoke rising into the air. They suspiciously appeared to be coming from…

"What…?" Matt rounded the last corner and his heart plummeted as he watched his house going up in flames.


	26. Chapter 26

He had just left! How could this have happened so fast?! The blaze looked like it had been going for hours!

"Oh my God! Oh my…" Matt parked the truck on the curb and spotted Tyler several houses down tugging his hair and looking panic stricken as firefighters dashed about, connecting the water hose. The neighbors had all come out to watch the scene as well, some faces concerned, some of them condolent, most of them shocked. It was like watching a train derail, devastating but you couldn't peel your eyes away.

"Tyler what the fuck?!" Matt screamed, as one of the kitchen windows shattered, sending glass flying across the grass. "What happened?!"

"I—I was—I got—cooking—grease—fire—" Tyler stammered hysterically, his eyes as wide as quarters. "I sprayed water on it—"

"You put water on a grease fire?!" What the fuck? _No one_ was that clueless. "Tyler you _dumb_ ass! You have to smother grease fires! But of _course_ you wouldn't know that! Because you've never cooked anything before! When have you ever done _anything_ for yourself?!"

"Is there someone inside?" a firefighter asked urgently.

"Yes," Tyler fumbled. "Vicki's still in there. I thought she wa—"

"My sister's still in there?!"

"I thought she was right behind me! I swear! But she never came out and—"

"Oh my fucking God! Tyler!" Matt's heart felt as though it were attempting to escape his chest. He couldn't breathe properly. He stared wildly up at his burning house, the flames having already consumed the kitchen and the living room and were now moving down the hall. He could see the blazing fire through the open front door. Vicki… Why hadn't she come out?

Matt watched as two of the firefighters bravely dashed into the burning building.

"Matt, what in God's name…?" Matt and Tyler both turned at the sound of his name to find Sheriff Forbes arriving on the scene. "Are you okay? How did this happen?"

"I don't know. I wasn't here," Matt snarled, answering the woman but glaring at Tyler furiously. "Ask _this_ idiot." Sheriff Forbes turned on Tyler instead.

"I got hungry, okay?" he said innocently. "I was only trying to fry some eggs, because I googled it and it's supposed to be easy. But you didn't have any oil. So I used some of the oil that was already—"

"Already on the stove?" Matt interrupted. "Tyler that oil was _old. Weeks_ old. I was gonna throw that out."

"Hold up. Let him finish," Sheriff Forbes pressed, incredibly remaining calm, but Tyler didn't get the chance to finish, or at least Matt didn't hear it, because at that moment, a firefighter burst from the house with a smut covered, unconscious Vicki in his arms. Matt immediately attempted to rush over to her but was halted by the fire marshall grabbing the back of his shirt.

"Don't get too close to the building," the man said.

"Matt! Oh my God!" Once again, he looked over his shoulder at the sound of his name to find the entire gang. Jenna, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, Elena, and even that knew guy…. Stanley? All looking worried and panic stricken. How did they even know? With all the neighbors out watching, somebody must've called somebody and… here they were.

"We came as soon as we heard," Jeremy said throwing himself into Matt's arms. Matt noticed the confused frowns that action caused several faces to make, but he didn't care. After everything he'd been through, a hug was much needed and appreciated, especially coming from Jeremy.

"I'm so glad you're here, Jer," Matt mumbled in the boy's ear, hugging him back. It was then that he looked over Jeremy's shoulder to the EMT where the firefighter had deposited his motionless sister onto a stretcher.

And the EMTs were attaching the defibrillator. Matt's heart stopped. Time seemed to freeze, and the sound left, as Matt watched his sister's body arch off the bed and flop back down motionless.

"What…? What's happening? What's… Vicki!" He took Jeremy's hand and tugged him over to the stretcher.

"Stay back young man," an EMT said firmly, holding an arm across his chest. So Matt could only watch in horror while Vicki's body arched off the bed one, two, three more times.

"Come on, Vicki," Matt mumbled desperately, his breaths nearing hyperventilation. "Wake up. Just open your eyes."

But the EMT sighed solemnly. "Time of death, 10:13 am."

Matt face went blank as he let those words sink in. Time of death. Death. That was the most important word, the most concerning. Death. Lack of life. Dead. His sister was dead. Matt couldn't think, he couldn't… he couldn't breathe. He couldn't stand. He just _couldn't._ His house was burning and his sister was dead. Just… no. _No._

"Matt?" Jeremy asked, apprehensively. "It's gonna be okay. Look at me. Just breathe. Just listen to my voice and breathe."

But Matt didn't look at Jeremy. His eyes landed on Tyler instead, where he stood still talking to Sheriff Forbes. "I hate you…" Matt growled, glaring at the boy venomously.

"What?" Tyler asked, completely confused.

Everything bad that had ever happened to Matt was Tyler's fault. He was disgusted that it had taken his sister's death for him to open his eyes.

Tyler was the cause for the rift in his relationship with Jeremy. Tyler was the reason he had wasted two baseball tickets. Tyler was the reason he had wound up in detention on the _first fucking day_ of school. Who does that? Tyler was the reason Vicki had gotten attacked in the woods. Because she'd been arguing with him. Tyler was the cause of Coach Tanner's death, and now he'd burned up Matt's house, inadvertently killing his sister. Tyler was the cause of _everything._ He was poisonous, a virus, infecting everything around him and it had taken Matt far too long to realize it.

"I _hate_ you!" Matt bellowed. He snatched his hand away from Jeremy's and dashes back over to Tyler, wailing on the raven haired teen's face. Matt punched so hard Tyler lip burst and boy went crashing to the ground.

"Whoa!" Sheriff Forbes cried as Mat kicked Tyler.

"I hate you!" Matt repeated as Sheriff Forbes wrapped binding arms around him.

"This is your fault!" Matt bellowed, tears streaming down his face, as Sheriff Forbes struggled to restrain him. "Everything is your fault!"

"Matt, don't make me arrest you!" she threatened.

"I fucking _hate_ you!" Matt snarled at the boy on the ground. "I wish I never met you!

"Matt, calm down!" Sheriff Forbes huffed angrily, losing her grip on the strong teen.

And quite suddenly… Jeremy was there. Kissing Matt. Right there in front of everybody. Jeremy kissed him. And Matt discovered that Jeremy's lips had the same effect on him that his had on Jeremy. Though the anger still coursed through the blonde's veins, he could feel himself relaxing. He melted into Jeremy's lips, softly kissing back until Jeremy pulled away.

"It's okay, Matt, he said consolingly, cradling the blonde's face. "I'm right here. We're gonna get through this together. Okay?"

"Okay," Matt agreed stoically, stilling in the sheriff's arms.

"Are you calm now?" Sheriff Forbes asked, relaxing her bear tight grip around him.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, still angry, but staring into Jeremy's comforting brown eyes.

"Alright then," she said, tentatively releasing him.

Jeremy sighed in relief when Matt didn't immediately attack Tyler again. Tyler simply remained in the ground, looking up at Matt in disbelieving shock.

"Let's just go back to my house and let these guys handle this. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Give me your keys. I'll drive okay?"

"Yeah." Matt handed over the keys to his truck without question and he calmly let the boy pull him away.


	27. Chapter 27

_I can't express how sorry_

 _I am No words I could come_

 _up with seemed sufficient_

 _enough._

 _I still can't go home and I kind of_

 _don't have anywhere else to stay_

 _now, so I'm going with Mason._

 _Just thought you'd want to know._

Matt was finally allowing his phone to charge while sitting at the Gilbert table eating the first meal he'd had in hours, a huge bowl of Cap'n Crunch, when he received the text from Tyler. A text that he promptly ignored.

"Who was that?" Jeremy asked, noticing him shove the phone away.

"Tyler," Matt mumbled bitterly. "He's leaving with Mason. I give two shits. I should've let him leave in the first place. My sister would still be alive."

Jeremy was silent for a second. Then he hesitantly spoke. "Matt… I think you should apologize to Tyler."

" _What?_ " Matt said incredulously, his brows touching each other.

"Hear me out. Okay?" Jeremy said defensively. " _Yes_ Tyler is a total asshole, but he doesn't deserve the way you treated him. It's not like he did it on purpose."

"Since when are _you_ off all people a Tyler advocate?" Matt asked curiously, peering over at Jeremy. What was he up to?

"I'm _not,_ " Jeremy assured him. "I still hate his selfish guts. But you were really brutal to him Matt. You did and said some terrible things. I've never seen you that way. Honestly it was a little scary."

"Tyler got what was coming to him," Matt countered.

"I don't want to argue," Jeremy said, backing off. He slipped around the table and placed a soft kiss on Matt's lips. "I'm just putting it out there so you can think about it. You're angry at him right now but I know you still care about him. Deep down, he's still your friend. I don't want you to regret your decisions after the anger dissipates. If _I_ of all people am defending him…? Just think about it. Okay?" Another couple of pecks. "You should get some sleep when you're done eating. You've got to be exhausted." And with that, he slipped off up the stairs.

After thinking about it while finishing up his bowl of cereal, Matt had decided that, as much as he hated to admit it, Jeremy was right. Like he usually was. So despite still being furious with the boy, Matt texted Tyler that he wanted to see him before he left and Tyler promptly appeared on the Gilbert's front lawn like the loyal best friend he was.

Matt had then begrudgingly apologised for attacking Tyler, saying he hadn't meant the things he said.

"And because I punched you in the face, I'm giving you one free shot. No nads. No g—"

Matt was abruptly interrupted by Tyler interrupted by Tyler popping him a good one in the lip. Matt screamed in agony, roughly shoving Tyler in retaliation.

"Hey!" Tyler snapped in his defense. "You said it was free!"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd actually do it!" Matt snarled.

"Oh…" he said stupidly. "Sorry?"

" _Whatever,_ " Matt spat bitterly, clutching his lower lip. "You have Jeremy to thank. He's the reason you're getting this apology. He still thinks I care about you. I'm not so sure," Matt admitted.

"I know you do, Matty. Because I still care about you. Even though you made me look like a total bitch in front of half the town. Maybe this time apart will be good for us. You know?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"So… Can I get a hug?" Tyler asked timidly.

"I guess," Matt said rolling his eyes. And after pulling the boy into his arms, Matt could actually feel a tingling something in his chest. Maybe there was some affection buried in there after all. Matt had then watched his lifelong friend climb in a little black SUV and roll away.

After that Matt wasn't sure when he'd finally passed out, but waking up at 4 in morning had to mean he had done so at some point. After the exhausting weekend he'd had, the Gilbert's sofa was like a soft cloud and 14 hours of sleep was like a breath of fresh air.

He was confused for a second, wondering where he was, then the recent events came crashing over him so hard he couldn't fight the the tears that came with them.

His sister, his home. Gone. And of course his irresponsible mother didn't have any kind of insurance so what now?

Jeremy. Matt needed Jeremy. He climbed up the stairs and quietly slipped into the slumbering boy's room. Matt gently crawled into bed behind the smaller boy, but somehow still managed to jostle it slightly, causing the younger teen to stir.

"Mngh… Matt?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Shh…. just go back to sleep," Matt whispered, cuddling up to him. "I just wanted to be next to you." But Jeremy rolled over and draped an arm around the blonde instead.

"I know you must feel terrible, but you did the right thing by apologizing to Tyler." He leaned over and touched their forehead together. "I'm sorry about your sister."

"It just hurts, Jer." Matt's voice cracked. "It feels like someone is squeezing my chest and… how can it this hurt? How can it physically hurt?"

"It's gonna be okay." Pecks of kisses. He squeezed Matt's strong shoulders affectionately. "There will always be a scar but it'll be okay." His hands ran around and down Matt's back, caressing him. "Let me help you feel better. Okay?"

"Okay," he mumbled glumly. Matt allowed Jeremy to roll him onto his back in the tiny bed. He allowed Jeremy to tug his pants down exposing his slowly hardening cock to the room.

"Oh my God, Matt…" Jeremy mumbled, staring at it hungrily for a second. The look in the boy's eyes was only making the appendage get even harder. Jeremy then licked a slow line along the bottom of the semi erect member, from base to the tip, sucking Matt into his warm mouth and swallowing the entire rod when he reached the top.

Matt instantly sprang to life inside the boy's mouth. He could feel his head in Jeremy's throat.

The boy smile a popped off of him. "Got you hard already," he grinned.

"You always do that to me," Matt smiled back. Jeremy slid out of his pajama bottoms and straddled Matt's hips.

"You want this ass Matt?" Jeremy asked, nibbling his bottom lip.

"Fuck yes, Jer."

"You want it?" Jeremy lined Matt up with the tight orifice.

"Give it to me, Jer. I w— _fuuuuuuck…._ "

Jeremy sank on Matt thick dick, sucking the appendage up into warm heaven.

"Oh my God, Matt," he gasped. "You're so fucking big. Just… _mngh._ " He promptly set a swift pace on Matt cock, leaning back to allow Matt to see himself slide in and out of the gripping hole.

Jeremy trembled in pleasure on to of Matt, doing all the work. Matt folded his arms behind his head and simply laid there, letting the warm walls clutch at him. Jeremy would lift himself up until Matt's tip was just barely still inside and then slowly sink back down again.

"You like it? You like this tight ass?" Jeremy asked, rocking on him, taking all of Matt's swollen member, his face contorted with pleasure. His hard cock flopped freely between them while he passionately rode the blonde, his balls slapping into Matt's lower abdomen with each downward stroke.

"I love it, so fucking tight," Matt moaned, lying there in ecstasy. "Ride me, Jer. Just like that."

"I just want to make you feel good, Matty," Jeremy whispered, staring into the older teen's eyes. And he did. Matt felt so fucking good with Jeremy's warm gripping hole around him. It seent sparks up Matt's spine that made him forget about the world. But—

"You wanna make me feel even better?" Matt asked suggestively.

"I just want you to be happy," Jeremy answered.

"Then fuck me," Matt said, biting his lower lip lasciviously. "I want to feel you inside of me, Jer."

Jeremy grinned. "Absolutely." He slipped off of Matt's dick with a wet popping sound and slid in between the blonde's legs squirmed at the feeling of Jeremy's cock between his ass cheeks, touching his hole, the anticipation setting his heart aflair.

"You ready?" Jeremy asked amorously, looking down at Matt with lust in his chocolate eyes.

"Yes," Matt moaned through his teeth. "I'm ready for you. Fuck me, Jer." Matt gasped. Because there it was, Jeremy's plump cock head breaching his tight sphincter. It slipped in slowly and Matt accepted the long dick gratefully, relaxing and letting it slide into place.

"Mngh fuck, Jer… _yes…_ " he moaned.

"Yeah? You love my dick?" Jeremy smiled, setting a sensual pace inside of Matt.

"Yes, Jer. Mngh… So fucking good…" Matt moaned, the dick caressing his inner walls. "I love your dick. And I love _you._ " It was then that a particularly well placed stroke tapped that place inside of Matt and— "Mngh… fuck!"

"Shhhh…" Jeremy chuckled, grinning while he continued thrusting into Matt, stretching him open. "I love you too, Matty, but you gotta be quiet or you're gonna wake up Jenna."

"Fuck…" Matt clumsily grabbed the boy's hand clamped it over his mouth, muffling the moans he emitted. Jeremy's grin broadened and he squeezed his hand around the larger teen's mouth a little tighter. Then, seeing that noise was no longer an issue, his next thrust was a little harder, a little sharper.

" _Mngh…"_ Matt trembled, the moan quieted by the hand. Another sharp jab, hitting Matt's spot dead on. Matt shivered. And Jeremy was off, fucking into Matt like a jackhammer, rocking Matt's body in the bed, making the blonde squirm underneath him, like a worm in the rain.

He flicked Jeremy's hand out of the way, then wrapped his arms around the boy's neck and pulled him close, locking their mouths together. He loved the boy on top of him, inside of him so much. He loved everything about him. His kindness, his clarity, his taste in music, in art, his ability to think rationally, to see people for what they really were, to care for the people he loved, and feel empathy for the ones he didn't. Matt even loved the _scent_ of Jeremy.

The intoxicating aroma permeating from his bed, his room, and simply from being so close to him, clogging Matt's brain along with pleasurable sensation of being fucked so goddamn good was stopping Matt from thinking straight. He could think of nothing but Jeremy. And he didn't mind that not one but. He didn't care if Jeremy was all he thought about for the rest of his life.

He thought about his first spark of feelings for Jeremy, how the boy would make his heart skip beats whenever he entered the room, of how much he used to watch Jeremy was across the room while he was supposed to be studying with Elena. Watching Jeremy looking so kissable by doing something as simple as sketching in a notepad.

He thought of their video game night after Jeremy's parents died. They had laughed and played for hours with Matt knowing how late it was but simply not wanting to go home. He thought about that first breakfast they'd had together, how Jeremy had looked so adorable in his underwear. How his boxers had clung to his body making him look so fucking fuckable. Matt had wanted to bend the boy over the kitchen table then and there.

He thought of the first time they'd gone to the batting cage and how _terrible_ Jeremy was at baseball. He thought of the ice cream they had shared afterwards, of the bits that had gotten caught in the corner of Jeremy's mouth and how he'd wanted to lick them away. He thought of his Jeremy has spazzed on that kid's dad and he had calmed him down afterwards.

He thought of the first kiss they'd shared in the cab of his truck, of how magical it had been, about the blowjob he'd given Jeremy in the school's bathroom. He thought of how beautiful Jeremy's cock had looked the first time he'd seen it, how magnificent it had felt the first time it touched his tongue. He thought of how tasty Jeremy's jizz had been the first time the boy had spilled in his mouth.

Matt thought of all these things and more while Jeremy fucked him. And he wrapped his arms and legs around the slim boy taking the long dick deep inside him, as deep a Jeremy could get it.

"Oh my… oh my God, Matt I'm coming. I'm coming Matt, fuck…" Jeremy pounded into him and Matt gasped at the feeling of the liquid spilling inside of him. "Oh… Matt… so good."

"I love you, Jeremy," Matt whispered.

"I love you more."

—Fin


End file.
